Wofford 81, Montreat 49
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Freshman Kathlyn Varno posted her first career double-double and all 11 Wofford players who saw action scored at least three points, grabbed at least two rebounds and swiped at least one steal as the Terriers captured an 81-49 non-conference victory against Montreat Friday night inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Varno came off the bench to register her best game to date, leading all players with a career-best 13 rebounds. Included in the total were nine offensive boards, which ties her with just four other players in the program's Division I era (1995-present) for the single-game school record. The Wilmington, N.C., native also was one of three Wofford players in double-figure scoring as her 10 points matched her career-high output set Nov. 13 versus Southern Virginia.
Sophomore Liz Miller led the Terriers with 11 points, including 3-of-3 from behind the 3-point line. Senior K.C. Correll also added 10 points.
The Lady Cavaliers' Jonkia Stewart-Butler paced all players with 15 points, while Tamira Wills and Janel Cox joined her in reaching the double-digit plateau with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Wofford (6-3) jumped in front early and cruised to a 17-4 lead on a pair of free throws by senior Mary Jo Yee at the 11:54 mark. The Terriers continued to dominate the boards, which they finished with a 63-24 advantage over the course of the game, and never allowed Montreat (0-13) to score on consecutive possessions. A jumper by sophomore Kate Dempsey closed the half's scoring as the teams entered the intermission with Wofford ahead, 39-16.
Miller's final triple of the night, at 15:29 of the second half, gave the Terriers a 31-point lead, 51-20. Cox and Whitney Boone scored on back-to-back trips down the court for the first time all night to cut the deficit to 27 with 14:35 left. The margin would be cut to 19, 56-37, on treys from Stewart-Butler and Wills and a field goal by Wills when the Lady Cavaliers held Wofford scoreless for nearly three minutes until the 9:14 mark when freshman Kristin Bradley hit a 3-pointer to push the advantage back to 22.
Yee and freshman Kelly Dwyer each hit a triple to swell the lead back to 30, 69-39, with 5:50 remaining. Freshman Natalie Gramblin gave the Terriers their largest lead of the night at 34 points, 81-47, on a layup with 17 seconds to go before Stewart-Butler added the game's final bucket with 10 seconds left.
Dwyer led all Wofford players with four assists and four steals. The 19 steals as a team are the second highest total by the Terriers this season.
The Terriers raised their record to 6-3 for only the fifth time in school history and first since 2001-02. Wofford's 1992-93 (8-1) and 1989-90 (7-2) were the only teams to have a better nine-game record to start their campaign. The six wins are also one shy of last year's season total and the Terriers have clinched at least a .500 record at the holiday break for the first time since the 2001-02 squad went 7-4.
Wofford will continue its three-game homestand after taking a week off for final exams when it hosts Western Carolina at 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17, in the Southern Conference opener for both schools. Montreat will return home to face Covenant College Saturday.