Bothroyd struck after 82 minutes as Wolves went some way to avenging the two 3-0 defeats they had suffered at the hands of Albion earlier this season.
But the real hero for Wolves was goalkeeper Matt Murray whose heroics laid the foundation for Bothroyd's late intervention.
While Wolves have hit form at just the right time, Albion have stumbled at just the wrong time having taken only one point from their last three games and that has cast a major cloud over their automatic promotion hopes.
They were undone when Stephen Ward played a neat ball into the path of Bothroyd, who fired his angled drive beyond the hand of Dean Kiely for his fifth goal of the season and his first since October.
Murray, who had done well to deny Kevin Phillips in the opening half, set the tone for his heroics when he bravely denied Diomansy Kamara what looked a certain goal in the 50th minute, when he dived at the feet of the Senegal international.
He also denied Jason Koumas 11 minutes later, before Kiely produced his one moment of magic in the 68th minute to tip a fierce 25-yard drive from Bothroyd around the post.
Kamara then slammed a close-range drive against the foot of the post but the last word was left to Murray, who somehow tipped away a last minute drive from Kamara.
With the game being played at such a frenetic pace in the opening stages it was no great surprise that clear-cut chances were initially few and far between.
Albion looked the neater side in possession and Zoltan Gera missed a golden chance to hand them the perfect start when he was inches away from converting a cross.
Wolves were reliant on their non-stop work rate posing Albion problems and that almost proved to be the case after 15 minutes when Andy Keogh squandered a golden chance.
Winger Michael McIndoe had bustled his way down the left flank and picked up the unmarked Keogh.
But the former Scunthorpe striker took far too much time trying to tee up his chance and that allowed Neil Clement the chance to step in and take the ball of his toe.
That let-off sparked Albion into their best move of the half, when Richard Chaplow surged past right-back Rob Edwards and fed a neat pass into the path of Phillips.
Phillips whipped in a shot that Murray managed to palm around his near post, a sign of what was to come.