ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) women's basketball team secured a hard-fought 54-50 victory over the Wofford Terriers on Friday in The Southern Conference (SoCon) Semifinal round to move on to the SoCon Championship at Harrah's Cherokee Center.
 
With today's win over the Terriers, Head Coach Trina Patterson has achieved a new single season coaching record with 24 victories this season. Her previous record stood at 23, which she achieved in the 2019-20 season.
 
Sunday will mark the team's eighth time in program history making an appearance in the SoCon Championship.  
 
Jayde Gamble and Makiah Asidanya led the Spartans in double-figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Khalis Cain paced the game with 14 rebounds, marking her 14^th game this season with double-digit boards.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Jaila Lee scored first in Friday's SoCon Semifinal contest with a second-chance layup at 9:36 to give UNCG a 2-0 advantage. Wofford responded with five consecutive points to take a 5-2 lead and hold it until later in the first frame. With UNCG down 14-10 at 1:03, Gamble rolled in a corner three to make it a one-point game, 14-13. Cain closed out the first stanza by going 2-for-2 at the charity stripe to give the Spartans a 15-14 lead at the break.
 
Wofford's Toni Warren scored first coming back from the huddle with a second chance jumper to give the Terriers a 16-15 lead. On the other end, Taisa Johnson launched a three-pointer to begin a 7-3 run to make it 22-19 Spartans. Wofford bounced back with an 8-0 run to take a 27-22 lead and hold it for the remainder of the second quarter. Both teams went into the locker room with Wofford holding a 31-26 lead.
 
The Terriers started off the third frame with a 5-0 run to make it 10-point game, 36-26, the largest lead of the game by either team. UNCG bounced back with a 6-0 run to cut its deficit to four, 36-32, but Wofford continued to hold the advantage. Later with UNCG down 41-36, Cain chipped in two consecutive layups before Nya Smith collected the defensive rebound and drove down for the fastbreak layup to put the squad within one, 41-40. Wofford's Molly Masingale knocked down a triple at 2:01 before Gamble closed out the third frame going 1-for-2 at the free throw line to make it 44-41 Wofford at the break.
 
Cain secured the first bucket of the fourth frame to begin a 10-2 Spartan run for a 51-46 lead. Asidanya's triple at 7:07 granted UNCG with a 48-46 lead, its first since the second quarter. The Terriers notched a 4-0 run to bring the game back within one, 51-50. However, Asidanya closed out the game for the Spartans at the free throw line, going 2-for-2 and 1-for-2 in her second go around in the final 13 seconds for the 54-50 victory.  

BY THE NUMBERS

• All nine Spartans who saw the floor in Friday's game scored.
• In addition, all nine registered at least one rebound.
• Cain led the game with two blocks.
• Nia Howard and Gamble led the team with two assists apiece.
• Gamble and Asidanya collected one steal each.
• UNCG bested Wofford in second chance points (14-9), bench points (20-15) and rebounds (44-33).
• Both teams tied the battle of points in the paint (18-18) and points off turnovers (7-7).  

RECORDS
UNCG: 24-6, 13-1 SoCon
Wofford: 17-12, 8-6 SoCon

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UP NEXT
The Spartans will face the winner of the No. 2 Chattanooga vs No. 6 Furman semifinal matchup in the SoCon Championship on Sunday, March 9 at noon in Asheville, North Carolina, at Harrah's Cherokee Center.