UNCG women’s basketball team downs Wofford, 67-55

SPARTANBURG, SC – Jasmine Byrd scored 13 points to lead UNC Greensboro to a 67-55 Southern Conference women’s basketball victory Tuesday night at Johnson Arena. The win gives the Spartans 15 for the season, which represents the most since the 2001-02 club posted 21 victories.

UNCG (15-11, 11-6 SoCon) garnered its ninth win in the last 11 games as senior center Caroline Blair came off the bench for 10 points, while sophomore center Meghan Chamberlain also had 10 points. Junior forward Irene Otamiri had nine.

Mary Jo Yee led Wofford (7-19, 3-14 SoCon) with a game-high 17 points.

UNCG took its largest lead of the game, 57-27, after a free throw by Byrd at the 14:58 mark of the second half. At that point, the Spartans seemed in control of all facets of the game, but later suffered though an 8:11 scoreless drought that saw the Spartans stuck on 61 points for what seemed like an eternity.

Wofford was able to draw to within 12 points in the last minute of regulation, but was not able to string enough points together to seriously make a comeback.

The sloppy play saw the Spartans turn the ball over 17 times in the second half alone.

Wofford would pull to within one point, 10-9, at the 14:04 mark of the first half, when UNCG ran off 23 straight points to take a 33-9 lead at the 5:32 mark. Sophomore guard Kristen Boone started the spurt for the Spartans with a traditional 3-point play and sophomore forward Jasmine Dixon capped it with a free throw. In the midst of the run, six different Spartan players scored with sophomore guard Kemena Brooks scoring six points on consecutive 3-pointers and Boone having five of her own.

The lead would swell to as much as 28 points on three occasions, the final time being 43-15 on a layup by junior forward KaLeah Latham with 2:15 left until halftime, which ended up the last bucket of the half. The 15 points scored by Wofford was the fewest allowed by the Spartans in the opening half of a game this year, besting the 16 allowed on Saturday against Elon. The Terriers went 11:23 between field goals and went only 5-22 from the field.

UNCG shot 51.5 percent (17-for-33) from the field in the first half. Byrd led the way with seven points. The Spartans forced 19 turnovers and had nine steals.

UNCG returns home to put the finishing touches on its regular season schedule. The Spartans will honor their three seniors (Caroline Blair, Ashley Current and Shanika Jackson) in a brief ceremony before the scheduled 4 pm tip-off with Western Carolina on Saturday. Meanwhile, Wofford hosts league-leading Chattanooga on Saturday at 5 pm.

GAME NOTES: UNCG is now 20-1 all-time against Wofford... UNCG is 14-3 when leading at halftime... Ashley Current’s block in the opening minutes set a new school record for blocks in a season... UNCG has 88 blocks on the year... The 28-point halftime lead was the largest for UNCG this season... The Spartans finish the year 6-3 on the road in the conference... Boone made her 200th career free throw with 15 seconds left in regulation.

AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO 67, WOFFORD 55

UNC GREENSBORO (15-11,11-6 SoCon)
BYRD, Jasmine 4-9 3-4 13; CHAMBERLAIN, Meghan 5-5 0-0 10; BLAIR, Caroline 4-4 2-2 10; OTAMIRI, Irene 4-8 0-0 9; BOONE, Kristen 2-6 3-4 7; BROOKS, Kemena 2-8 0-2 6; DIXON, Jasmine 2-3 1-5 5; GRIMSLEY, Gini 2-3 0-0 4; LATHAM, KaLeah 1-2 1-4 3; CURRENT, Ashley 0-0 0-0 0; LING, Ashley 0-2 0-0 0; JACKSON, Shanika 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-51 10-21 67.

WOFFORD (7-19, 3-14 SoCon)
YEE, Mary Jo 6-14 2-2 17; NICHOLS, Summer 3-8 1-2 7; DEPKO, Laura 3-7 0-2 6; KOENIG, Kelsi 1-1 2-2 5; DEMPSEY, Kate 2-3 1-2 5; MISTER, Nakia 2-6 0-0 4; PAUL, Susanna 2-3 0-2 4; CORRELL, K.C. 1-5 0-0 3; WEURDING, Jenny 0-4 2-2 2; MILLER, Liz 0-1 2-3 2; STRONG, LaToya 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 20-55 10-17 55.

Halftime: UNC Greensboro 43-15. 3-point goals-UNC Greensboro 5-14 (BROOKS, Kemena 2-6; BYRD, Jasmine 2-3; OTAMIRI, Irene 1-3; GRIMSLEY, Gini 0-1; JACKSON, Shanika 0-1), Wofford 5-17 (YEE, Mary Jo 3-9; KOENIG, Kelsi 1-1; CORRELL, K.C. 1-3; MILLER, Liz 0-1; STRONG, LaToya 0-2; DEPKO, Laura 0-1). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-None, Wofford-None. Rebounds-UNC Greensboro 30 (OTAMIRI, Irene 8), Wofford 42 (PAUL, Susanna 7). Assists-UNC Greensboro 13 (OTAMIRI, Irene 3; LING, Ashley 3; BYRD, Jasmine 3; BOONE, Kristen 3), Wofford 12 (DEPKO, Laura 3; MILLER, Liz 3). Total fouls-UNC Greensboro 19, Wofford 26. A-709.

- UNCG -