SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford women's basketball team defeated Furman 79-48 on Saturday afternoon at Richardson Indoor Stadium. Wofford dominated the Paladins in the first half, leading 46-18 after twenty minutes and never looked back en route to the Terriers third conference victory. The win over Furman is Wofford's first since 2013 and just the eighth time that the Terriers have defeated the Paladins. The win moves Wofford to 10-12 overall and 3-4 in the Southern Conference.  
 
"Today was a great team effort and I am extremely proud of everyone who contributed today. We were superb on both ends of the floor and especially on defense where we stuck to the game plan and guarded their best players really well," head coach Jimmy Garrity said. "Offensively we shared the ball, racking up 19 assists to just eight turnovers which allowed us to run our offensive sets. To beat a good team like Furman you have got to make some plays and we did that today."
 
The upstate rivals opened the game with five minutes of back and forth action that saw both teams take an early lead. The Paladins led 9-8 at the first media break thanks to a Cierra Carter three-pointer. Wofford then ended the quarter on a 12-5 run that was led by Cairo Booker who had ten points, two assists and two boards in the first period of play.
 
The Terriers exploded with an 8-0 run over the first two minutes of the second quarter to extend the led to 14 at 28-14. Wofford continued to sprint past the Paladins in the second period as the Terriers held Furman to just four points on 2-12 (16%) shooting. The Terriers were on fire in the quarter going 11-14 (78%) from the floor and 3-5 (60%) from downtown while forcing the Paladins into seven turnovers. Wofford led 46-18 after the break thanks to Booker who paced the Terriers with 14 points, two boards and three assists. Marissa Bayer added ten points, four rebounds and two blocks while Da'Ja Green recorded four points, four rebounds and four assists without committing a turnover in the half.

The 28 point halftime deficit proved to be too much for Furman to overcome as Wofford opened the second half by remaining committed to the offensive and defensive game plan. The Paladins finally found some shooting form in the third quarter going 7-13 (53%) and 3-6 (50%) from downtown after struggling in the first half (7-25, 28%). Despite the solid shooting efforts of the Paladins, the Terriers kept Furman in the rear view mirror for the remainder of the game.
 
In the win, Wofford shot 33-64 (51%) from the floor and 9-19 (47%) from downtown while going 4-5 from the line. The Terriers had 19 assists compared to just eight turnovers and defensively forced the Paladins into 18 turnovers. Da'Ja Green led Wofford with 20 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Wofford had three others reach double figures in Marissa Bayer (16), Cairo Booker (14) & Anna Claire Atha (14).
 
The 31 point margin of victory is Wofford's largest SoCon win since the Terriers defeated UNCG 104-64 in the 2015-16 season. The 79 points are the most that Wofford has ever scored against Furman.
 
Wofford will return to the court on Thursday, February 1 when the Terriers travel to Samford for the second matchup of the season. Wofford defeated Samford 56-48 in Spartanburg on January 6 for the team's first conference victory of the season.