Bulldogs Lose Heartbreaker To Wofford
December 04, 2007 | Women's Basketball
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – After trailing by as many as 11 with under 16 minutes to play, the Gardner-Webb women's basketball team seemed to hit its stride as it pushed past neighboring Wofford with 9:10 to play only to succumb to the pressure, falling by a score of 75-68 in front of a couple hundred fans in Paul Porter Arena Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs stand at 2-8 on the season while the Terriers improve to 3-3.
Rookie Monique Hudson posted a team-best 16 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs. Sophomore Jenny Sprouse canned 11 points, nine of which came in the second half. Fellow second-year player Margaret Roundtree accounted for eight points and 10 boards.
Freshman Courtney Epps tallied nine points – all on three pointers – while senior LaToya Carter had eight points and six boards.
GWU dished out 17 assists, just off the top-five list in school history for a single game.
The Bulldogs hit just 35.9 percent of their shots (23-of-64) while the Terriers hit 29-of-59 attempts for 49.2 percent.
After Wofford hit a jumper to go up 11 with just about 16 minutes to play, Sprouse canned two three-point attempts while Carter and Meranda Burnett each had chip shots to cut the lead to five as GWU went on a 10-2 run.
A jumper by Kelly Dwyer made the score 51-48, two foul shots by Roundtree cut the deficit to one with 11:16 to play.
On the next possession, Wofford's Natalie Gramblin missed a short jumper as did Laura Depko. A rebound by Monique Hudson gave the Bulldogs the ball and Sprouse calmly sank her third tri-fector of the half for a 53-51 advantage.
The Terriers had a jumper by Gramblin and a charity toss by Liz Miller to regain the lead, but only for close to a minute. Carter came through with a powerful post move for an easy bucket and a 55-54 lead with 9:10 to play.
However, GWU committed three turnovers and missed two jump shots while Wofford put together a 10-0 run that spanned nearly four minutes of play, essentially putting the game out of reach.
Just like they have so many times, the young Bulldogs fought back to paw their way back into the game in the closing minutes. Two charity tosses by Monique Hudson cut the deficit to seven with 2:03 to play.
Sister Dominique Hudson recorded a steal and converted an old fashioned three-point play to slice the margin to just four with 1:48 as she made a lay-up and converted a foul shot.
After forcing another turnover by Wofford, Monique Hudson was fouled by Summer Nichols and calmly sank two free throws. However, it would be as close as the Bulldogs would come as Kelly Dwyer went deep on the out of bounds play and made a lay-up while being fouled by Epps. She converted the three-point play for a 73-68 lead.
GWU then forced the issue with a couple of errant shots and was forced to foul. Nichols' two free throws with 12 seconds remaining put the score at 75-68.
The Bulldogs will now have 12 days off to regroup before over
the final exam break before heading to Longwood for a 2 p.m.
contest on Dec. 15.
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