GREENSBORO, N.C. -The UNCG women's basketball team (8-12, 0-5 SoCon) came up short in a 56-58-overtime loss to Wofford (7-11, 1-3 SoCon) Wednesday night. It was a night that began with much celebration with senior guard Lucy Mason (Stone Mountain, Ga./Chamblee Charter) being honored in a pre-game ceremony for becoming the programs all-time leading scorer. Director of Athletics Kim Record, head coach Wendy Palmer and former record holder Angie Polk-Jones all presented Mason with a ball to comemorate her accomplishent earlier in the season. With high steaks on the line as both teams were winless going into Wednesday night's match; the Terriers hit a three-pointer at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime.

UNCG found itself in a early deficit but the Spartans used a 10-0 run to take a 12-7 lead with 2:20 to go in the first quarter. A pair of free throws by Wofford's Chanel Stokes tied the game at 12-all to end the frame. The lead changed four times throughout the second quarter with Wofford slightly holding a 28-25 lead at halftime.

UNCG shot 33.3 percent in the first half while the Terriers shot 31.1 percent. The Spartans were plagued with 12 turnovers while Wofford had 10 of its own. The two teams combined for 17 steals in the first half and Wofford held a 21-20 edge on rebounds. Jordan Frazier led all scorers with 10 points and five steals while UNCG was paced by Mason who had nine points, three rebounds and two steals.

The Spartans took the lead at 7:43 with a trey by Shanese Harris (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch). Stokes missed the first of two free throws to tie the game for the sixth time, 31-all, nine seconds late but UNCG responded with a 6-0 run over the next three minutes to lead 37-31 with 4:49 to go in the quarter. A trey by Frazier with 2:36 would bring the game within three, 39-36, in UNCG's favor. The score held until the end of the frame as the Spartans ended the quarter on a four minute and 26 second scoring drought while Wofford would miss four shots down the final two and a half minute stretch.

UNCG had its biggest lead, by eight, with 8:15 to go in regulation. Wofford slowly chipped away with a 6-1 run to trail 46-43 with less than four minutes to play. UNCG held a five-point advantage with under a minute to go but a Stokes layup made it a 50-47 game at the 52-second mark. Maria Corella drained a trey for the Terriers with four seconds left to tie the game, and send it to overtime.

The Spartans shot 29 percent from the floor while Wofford improved to shoot 40 percent. UNCG struggled at the free throw line, making just 5-of-11 shots but the Terriers nearly mirrored that with a 50 percent mark from the charity stripe. UNCG forced 19 second-half turnovers for Wofford and snagged 12 steals, six of which were credited to Harris. Harris was also the leading scorer in the second half with 10 points with a .500 field goal percentage.

In overtime, UNCG scored first with a pair of free throws by Jade Scaife (Fort Washington, Md./Archbishop Spalding). Wofford took the lead at 2:42 on a layup by Grayson Pinholster and never again trailed. UNCG was able to tie the game, 54-all with 1:56 to go but Wofford held on for a two-point win.

The Spartans shot just 12.5 percent from the field, 1-of-8 shooting, in the extra five minutes. Wofford was 33.3 percent and made four steals on six Spartan turnovers. Each team recorded six rebounds but the difference was in Wofford's nine trips to the free throw line, where they made four shots.

Mason, Pinholster and Frazier all tied for a game-best 14 points. It marks the first time this season Mason, who leads the SoCon in points per game, has scored fewer than 18 points in a game. Scaife and India Timpton (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park) both recorded recorded their fourth double-doubles of the season. Scaife tallied 13 points and a career-and-game-high 15 boards while Timpton had a 10 and 10 performance while adding six steals. Harris had 11 points, two rebounds and a career-high 7 steals.  

Wednesday's loss marks just the tenth in program history to Wofford as the Spartans hold the all-time series 32-10. UNCG is now 17-3 all-time in Fleming Gymnasium against the Terriers and is 4-2 in the last six meeting in Greensboro.

The Spartans return to Fleming Gymnasium Saturday, January 23, when they host Furman at 2 p.m. UNCG is looking for its first league win of the season and first win over the Paladins since February 18, 2013.

-UNCG-