Wofford 58, Alabama 52

TUSCALOOSA, ALA. – Making her first collegiate start, Chanel stokes scored 18 points as the Wofford women’s basketball team earned its first win, 58-52, over a team from the Southeastern Conference Monday afternoon at Alabama in front of a crowd of 2,184 in the Foster Auditorium.

Wofford improves to 5-3 on the season while the Tide drop to 6-3.  The Terriers were 0-8 heading into the match up against teams from the SEC before the Monday’s milestone win.  It is the program’s second win over a program from the BCS. Wofford defeated Louisiana-Lafayette on November 16, 2001.

Stokes, picking up a spot start for the Terriers, scored 11 of her team-high 15 points from the free throw line.  Daniella Motley earned her third double-double of the season, and second in as many games with 13 points and 15 rebounds.   Her 15 rebounds tied a career-high.  Logan Morris and Morgan Wrightson each added ten points apiece for the Terriers.

Wofford opened the game with a 5-2 run, but Alabama answered with an 8-0 run sparked by four points from Meghan Perkins as they took a 10-5 with 14 minutes remaining in the half.  Morris ended the run with a jumper in the lane.  The basket ended a three-minute scoring drought for the Terriers on the next Wofford possession.

The basket started a 6-2 Terrier run as they cut the score to 12-11 with less than 12 minutes left in the half.  Chanel Stokes knocked down two free throws and Khadijah Joyner scored following an offensive rebound during the stretch.

The Crimson Tide pushed the lead out to nine points, 20-11, with an 8-0 run over the next four and a half minutes of action.  Daniella Motley ended an almost five-minute scoreless streak with a basket in the lane with seven minutes showing on the clock.

Six straight points from Logan Morris, on a fast break assist from Morgan Wrightson, a wing jumper off a Stokes assists and two free throws, cut the Crimson Tide lead to one point, 20-19, with 3:44 before the break.

Motley’s and Morris’s points combined with four three throws from Stokes saw Wofford put together a 12-2 run and take a 23-22 lead with just under two minutes left.  However, Alabama ended the half with the final four points to take a 26-23 lead.

Neither team could get on track shooting in the first half as Wofford shot 29 percent from the floor and missed on both of its attempts from three.  Alabama was 27 percent overall and missed on all eight of its attempts from behind the arc.

Wofford came out of the half and took a 38-28 lead seven minutes into play with a 15-2 run sparked by seven points from Wrightson.  Wofford’s defense held Alabama scoreless for seven and a half minutes before Perkins scored on a fast break layup to cut Terrier lead to 38-30 with just over 12 minutes to play.  Stokes took the lead back to ten points, 40-30, on the next Terrier possession with a desperation shot between three Tide defenders as the shot clock expired.

Alabama answered by cutting the lead to four points, 40-36, with a 6-0 run aided by four points off of Terrier turnovers with 7:19 to play.

Motley ended a five-minute stint for the Terriers without a basket from the floor with back-to-back jumpers in the paint to give Wofford a 45-38 with six minutes showing on the clock.

After Alabama cut the gap the five points, Wofford answered with four points and an assists from Mariah Masalin as the Terriers extended the lead to nine points, 51-42. The Crimson Tide answered with a 6-0 run to cut the margin to three points, 51-48, with two minutes to play.

Motley ended the Tide run with a basket on a Wrightson assists, and Wofford’s defense forced a turnover as Wrightson knocked down two free throws 30 seconds later.  The Terriers pushed the lead out to seven points, 55-48.

Alabama cut the lead to five points, but Wofford’s defense held in the waning second as the Terriers earned their third come-from-behind win on the season 58-52.

After a poor shooting effort in the first half, Wofford shot 50 percent in the second half from the floor giving the Terriers a 40 percent clip in the game.  The Terriers went 1-of-5 in the game from three and 71 percent from the free throw line.  Alabama ended at 33 percent from the floor, 0-of-12 from three and 60 percent from the charity stripe.

It was the first time this season and first time since Wofford’s win over the College of the Charleston in the opening round of the Southern Conference tournament on March 2, 2012 that the Terriers held a team without a three-point field goal.

The two teams combined for 56 turnovers in the game.  Wofford scored 21 points off of 25 Alabama turnovers, while the Crimson Tide scored 24 points off of 31 Terrier turnovers.

Wofford’s 35 second half points where the second most points the team has scored in a half this season and the most points scored in the second half.

Perkins led all scorers with 18 points for the Tide, while Alicia Mitchell chipped in 12 points off the bench.  Kaneisha Horn had a team-high eight rebounds, while Jessica Merritt had six steals.

Wofford will host Gardner-Webb Wednesday, December 19 at 3 p.m. in the Benjamin Johnson Arena in the Terriers final game before the Christmas break.