Anna Claire Knight drained a 3-pointer from the wing as the buzzer sounded to lift Georgia Southern to a 61-58 Southern Conference women's basketball victory over Wofford Sunday afternoon in Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Eagles inbounded the ball under their own basket with 1.6 seconds to go. Knight came off a screen on the left wing, set her feet and the sophomore's shot hit nothing but net.
"Aishya Wofford set a great screen, and MiMi DuBose made a good pass to her shooting pocket," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "Anna Claire knew she had enough time to set her feet and let it fly. It was a well-executed play."
Wofford overcame a 55-45 deficit in the last five minutes as Erin Frost hit two 3-pointers, and Jordan Frazier tied the game on a triple from the wing with 32 seconds left. Knight had a baseline jumper blocked but got her own rebound and Georgia Southern called timeout. With the shot clock winding down, Alexis Sams grazed the rim on a drive to the hoop and the ball went out of bounds off of the Terriers, setting the stage for the game-winning play.
Knight finished with 16 points to lead the Eagles (3-14, 2-6 SoCon), and DuBose tallied 12 points and six rebounds. Meredyth Frye scored 11 points, and Jordi Cook added nine. The Eagles shot 42 percent from the floor and matched a season low with 11 turnovers.
"We talk a lot about taking care of the ball and valuing our possessions, and we were able to do that today," said Vozab. "We played with much more rhythm on the offensive end, and we were aggressive in getting to the basket but also in finding each other. Even when they came back, I thought we really stayed aggressive within our offense and played to win for the full 40 minutes."
Daniella Motley posted 22 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and two steals for the Terriers (5-9, 0-6 SoCon). Rachel Brittenham finished with eight points and eight rebounds, and Frazier scored nine and added three assists.
With the Eagles trailing 7-6 early in the contest, DuBose scored five points, and Knight netted four in a 15-4 GSU run. A triple from the wing by Cook followed by a Wofford layup made the score 21-11 midway through the period.
A Brittenham 3-pointer from the top of the key capped a 7-2 run for the Terriers and trimmed the margin to four points, but Wofford got a layup for the Eagles, and they went into the locker room with a 32-26 advantage. GSU shot 52 percent from the floor in the period while holding Wofford to 36 percent.
The Terriers scored the first six points of the second half to erase the deficit, but Georgia Southern responded with 13-3 run to retake control of the game. Knight and Cook hit triples during the run, and Frye's conventional 3-point play made the score 45-35 6:56 into the second half.
The Eagles have five days off before starting a two-game road swing at UNCG next Saturday. The Eagles face Elon on the road Monday, and following that contest, play seven of their final 10 contests in Hanner Fieldhouse.
