Virginia Tech 75, Wofford 60
BLACKSBURG, Va. ? The Wofford women’s basketball team started strong but could not keep up with Atlantic Coast Conference foe Virginia Tech through the entire 40-minute game in dropping a 75-60 decision Tuesday evening inside Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.
Wofford followed an Andrea Barbour layup at 14:42 with a 7-0 run covering nearly three minutes, including a 3-pointer and jumper by sophomore Natalie Gramblin to take a 14-8 lead. Barbour then started and ended a 9-0 surge by the Hokies over the next three-and-a-half minutes as Virginia Tech (5-1) reclaimed the lead, 17-14, before sophomore Kelly Dwyer capped it with a jumper at 8:01.
The Terriers then used a three-minute scoreless period by the Hokies to climb back into the contest. Freshman Mahagony Williams had a drive and shot from 12 feet and junior Laura Depko nailed a field goal from the top of the key to knot the score at 23-23 at the under four-minute media timeout.
Brittany Cook then took control for Virginia Tech, scoring nine of the team’s final 11 points of the half to open a nine-point cushion at halftime, 34-25. Senior Kelsi Koenig, the current Southern Conference Player of the Week, netted the only Wofford (2-2) field goal in the final stretch before the break as the Hokies went on an 11-2 run.
Cook continued to pour in the points early in the second half, hitting three more field goals and a free throw on the back-end of an old-fashioned three-point play to push the gap to 11, 52-41, with 11:35 showing on the clock.
Sophomore Kathlyn Varno then gave the Terriers a spark by making a three-point play and another layup to close the deficit to 10, 58-48, before Barbour led another VT streak by scoring six in a row as the Hokies built a 13-point edge, 64-51, at the under four-minute timeout.
Barbour would give Virginia Tech its largest lead at 17, 70-53, with 2:04 to play but freshman Ashley Kroker hit a 3-pointer from the corner and Depko added a pair of free throws under a minute for the final margin.
Depko led Wofford with a season-high 11 points, just three shy of her career-best effort. She was the only Terrier in double figures as Koenig chipped in nine and junior Summer Nichols added eight. Koenig also had a team-high nine rebounds with Williams tallying a career-best five blocked shots. Wofford finished with an 11-2 edge on blocks.
The Hokies were led by a trio of starters in double figures, paced by a game-high 19 points from Cook. Barbour added 18 points, while Utahya Drye contributed 13. Amber Hall matched Koenig’s work on the glass with eight rebounds, despite the Terriers holding a 42-39 advantage on boards.
Wofford will return to action when it opens Southern Conference play at 1 p.m. Saturday against Elon inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
No. 5 North Carolina 102, College of Charleston 58
Chapel Hill, N.C. -- Four Tar Heels scored in double figures to lead the #5-Ranked North Carolina women's basketball team to the 102-58 win over the College of Charleston Cougars in action tonight in front of 3,036 fans at Carmichael Auditorium. CofC'c Tonia Gerty posted a career-high 11 points in the effort, going three-for-eight from beyond the three-point arc.
Charleston falls to 0-3 on the season while UNC remains undefeated at 8-0.
The Cougars struggled from the field all night as the Tar Heels slowly rebounded from an early 6-4 deficit to take the lead and increase the margin to as much as 27 points in the first half before settling on the 25-point 54-29 lead at the half. Charleston took just two less shots then UNC in the half but was just 11-for-34 from the field, compared to 20-for-36 for North Carolina. Charleston only had five less rebounds as well, 23-18.
The shooting woes continued in the second half as the Cougars were just 11-for-43 for 25.6 percent, compared to 17-for-45 for UNC. North Carolina built as much as a 50-point lead on the Cougars before two late threes by Tonia Gerty cut the margin to the 44-point 102-58 ending.
Leading the Cougars was Jill Furstenburg with 13 points. Gerty followed with 11. Megan King recorded a career-high with nine points, as well as Jayme Warner with her three points in 17 minutes. Erika Smith's seven rebounds led the Cougars, followed by Sarah Moye and Ericka Williams with five each.
Leading the Tar Heels was Cetera DeGraffenreid with 19 points, followed by LaToya Pringle with her 18. Iman McFarland scored 17 and Rebecca Gray posted 12 for UNC. McFarland had a double-double with her 13 rebounds to go along with her 17 points. Jessica Breland had 10 rebounds on the night.
Charleston shot 28.6 percent from the field for the game, while UNC was 45.7 percent. The Tar Heels out-rebounded the Cougars 61-43 and had nine less turnovers, 26-17. Charleston went eight-for-13 from the free throw line while UNC went 26-for-34. Charleston found success from long range, firing in six-of-24 from beyond the three-point line; the Tar Heels were just two-for-16. Gerty's three-for-eight effort was a career-best.
The Cougars now begin a five game home stand, starting with Charleston Southern, Thurs., Nov. 29th in a 7:00 pm tip-off at the John Kresse Arena.