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Furman Loses Third Straight, 70-69, at Wofford
Jan. 14, 2006
SPARTANBURG, South Carolina - With nine-tenths (00:00.9) of a second showing on the clock in regulation, Wofford junior Mary Jo Yee stepped to the foul line and hit all three of her free throws to cap a thrilling 70-69 come-from-behind victory for the Wofford women's basketball team Saturday afternoon over visiting Furman in the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C. The loss was Furman's third straight by three or fewer points, joining a three-point decision to UNC Greensboro (1-7) and a two-point loss at College of Charleston (1-9).
With the Terriers down two, the Lady Paladins held possession with under a minute to play. Wofford forced a turnover with just six seconds remaining and the in-bounds pass found the hands of Yee, who drove to the left wing and attempted a 3-pointer. A referee whistled Furman defender Lauren Few for the foul, which sent Yee to the line for three shots, trailing 69-67.
Yee's free tosses capped a 13-2 run over the final 3:17 of the game for the Terriers after the Lady Paladins' Sarah Baker hit a free throw of her own to give Furman a 67-57 edge.
The first half of action saw both teams trading buckets with neither team taking more than a four-point lead over the first 10 minutes.
Following a Kate Dempsey layup with 9:23 to play in the half to put Wofford (5-10, 1-5 SoCon) ahead 20-19, the Lady Paladins responded with a 9-0 run to take a 28-20 advantage with 6:13 remaining on a 3-pointer by Princess Wells. Furman continued to increase its advantage and saw its lead swell to as high as 12 on a pair of free throws by Melynda Gant with 1:34 left.
A Jenny Weurding bucket and Liz Miller trey right before the halftime buzzer cut the Furman lead to seven, 36-29 at the break.
The Lady Paladins maintained at least a seven-point cushion throughout the opening four minutes of the second stanza. A Wells layup gave Furman (7-9, 3-3 SoCon) a nine-point edge at the 17:13 mark, but Wofford pulled within two, 42-40, on a 7-0 run kick started by another Weurding basket. The other five points in the spurt were scored by Kelsi Koenig, including her only 3-pointer of the contest.
Furman again built a 14-point lead over the next four minutes on back-to-back free throws from Tommi Parris with 10:35 to play. The charity stripe tosses capped a 14-2 Lady Paladin streak.
Wofford kept chiseling away at the lead and brought the deficit down to six, 60-54, on a Yee 3-pointer with 5:38 remaining.
Furman was led by Jessica Lange, Sarah Baker, and Melynda Gant, who all totaled 11 points in the contest. Lange also paced Furman on the boards, claiming seven rebounds, while knocking down a team-best five blocked shots - a new personal best for the sophomore from Knoxville, Tenn. Eleven members of the Furman team played and 10 of the 11 scored, but it was still not enough to hold off the Terriers late-game charge.
Four Wofford starters finished in double-figure scoring, led by 17 from Nakia Mister. Joining her in reaching the double-digit plateau were Koenig (13), Yee (12) and Miller (11). Koenig and Yee finished a combined 7-of-7 from the foul line, while Yee and Miller totaled six 3-pointers among them.
Furman (7-9, 3-3 SoCon) hosts league-leading Chattanooga at 7 p.m. Monday in Timmons Arena. That game will be broadcast on WGOG-FM 96.3 and over the internet at yahoo.com.
