Wofford 83, Southern Virginia 48
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Wofford women's basketball team capitalized on 42 Southern Virginia turnovers Monday as the Terriers earned an 83-48 victory inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Wofford had its best shooting night, connecting on 35-of-75 (46.7 percent) since knocking down 27-of-57 (47.4 percent) in its 70-69 victory over Furman Jan. 14, 2006. All 13 Terriers who saw action scored, including the first career points for freshmen Kristen Bradley, Natalie Gramblin and Kathlyn Varno. Senior Mary Jo Yee and sophomore Kate Dempsey also added their first buckets of the young season.
On the defensive end, the Terriers used a highly aggressive defense to record a school-record 31 steals. The previous mark was 23, set in the two teams' last meeting, Nov. 23, 2005.
Wofford's 31 steals are two shy of the Southern Conference standard, held by Marshall in a 1983-84 contest against West Virginia State. The NCAA record is 38 set by Grambling vs. Texas College Dec. 10, 1987.
Sophomore Liz Miller approached a rare triple-double despite playing only 17 minutes, including four in the second half, when she tallied 12 points, seven assists and seven steals. The seven steals are a single-game Division I school record, bettering the previous mark of six set by six players. Libby Corry swiped 10 steals against Coker Nov. 21, 1992, to set the overall single-game Terrier mark.
Yee led all Wofford (2-0) players with 13 points, while Miller added 12, junior Kelsi Koenig chipped in 11 and Varno reached double figures with 10. Freshman Kelly Dwyer grabbed a game-high tying six rebounds.
Senior Jennifer Weurding dished out five assists, one short of her career-best total set in the season-opening triumph Friday over Gardner-Webb. She also collected two blocked shots to raise her career total to 179, 16 shy of the all-time Southern Conference mark of 195 set by Appalachian State's Valorie Whiteside (1984-88).
Lynnette Adams paced Southern Virginia (0-2) with 17 points, including a 4-of-5 effort from behind the 3-point arc. She hit on 5-of-9 field goals overall and was 3-of-3 from the charity stripe. Chelsea Lund gathered a game-high tying six boards.
The game was close early as Adams converted on a four-point play off a 3-pointer and the ensuing foul shot after she was fouled in the act of shooting to bring the Lady Knights within 13-11 at the 13:33 mark of the first half. Following the play, the Terriers opened the contest wide open with a 17-2 surge over the next eight minutes to take a 30-13 lead on a Miller jumper. Wofford would enter the half ahead, 40-26.
The Terriers would eventually push their margin to as high as 32, 62-30, with 12:21 remaining before head coach Edgar I. Farmer Jr. pulled his starters and played the final eight minutes with the four freshmen and Yee on the floor.
Wofford wins its second-straight contest to open the season for the first time since 2001-02 and for the fourth time since moving to the Division I ranks in 1995-96.
A 7 p.m. tip Wednesday against Big South foe Charleston Southern will close the season-opening three-game homestand for the Terriers. Southern Virginia will also play again in two days, playing at Christendom.
Clemson 64, College of Charleston 42
Clemson, S.C. - A 23-2 run by the Tigers to start the second half erased a one-point College of Charleston halftime lead and propelled the Clemson women's basketball team to the 64-42 win this evening in front of 1,490 fans at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C.
The Cougars and Tigers both go to 1-1 on the season.
Both teams had poor shooting performances in the first half with the Cougars coming away with the slight 31.0 percent to 28.1 percent edge. Charleston and Clemson traded what little baskets there were most of the first stanza with the Cougars coming out on top by a point at intermission, 24-23. There were six lead changes and the game was tied seven times during that span.
The second half started with Clemson scoring three straight points to take the 27-24 lead. Charleston responded with a basket at 18:32 to cut the margin to one. That would be the last basket until the 9:35 mark as the Tigers exploded for 19 unanswered points to take the 46-26 lead with 9:44 left. A Melissa Chambers jumper at 9:35 ended the drought.
Clemson led by as much as 23 points, 54-31, before a 9-1 run over the next two minutes by the Cougars cut the margin to 15 with 5:02 left. That would be as close as the Cougars could get as they only scored once more over the final five minutes to fall 64-42.
Charleston shot just 24.2 percent from the field in the half to end with a 27.4 field goal percentage, while Clemson shot an impressive 48.3 to end the game with a 38.1 percentage. Charleston had 31 turnovers, compared to 20 for the Tigers. The Cougars led in rebounds with the 50-46 edge.
Chambers led the Cougars with 10 points, while Sarah Moye paced the team with nine rebounds. Leading the Tigers was D'Lesha Lloyd with 16 points. Lele Hardy led in rebounds with seven in the game. Clemson had nine blocks on the night with Moreemi David leading the way with five.
The Cougars are next in action Thursday, Nov. 16th with a home contest against Coastal Carolina at 7:00 p.m.