HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Qubein Center saw a shooting clinic Saturday night as both the Wofford women's basketball team and the High Point Panthers shot 50 percent in the contest, but it was the Terriers that came out on top with the 88-79 triumph. Wofford held off High Point's comeback attempt to secure a second-straight win, improving to .500 on the season at 2-2. The Panthers drop to 1-4 with the result.
 
"It's hard to win on the road," said head coach Jimmy Garrity of Wofford's hard-fought win. "High Point is well-coached and has a ton of talent on that team. They can hurt you from the outside, can exploit mismatches, and they did a fantastic job in that. And we hung on. We made some plays down the stretch. We really took care of the ball – seven turnovers. We had 13 assists. But to come on the road and score 88 points is pretty impressive."
 
This is Wofford's first road victory of the campaign. The 88 points are the most the Terriers have scored in a game so far this season, and the 50.0 percent shooting mark and 31 made field goals are also single-game highs.
 
Both teams hit half of their shots, an impressive feat. High Point was better from three-point range with 13 total threes on a 50.0 percent clip, though Wofford knocked down seven at 31.8 percent. The Terriers got to the free throw line more, 28 times to 16 for the Panthers. Wofford was 19-for-28 at 67.9 percent while High Point was again 50 percent.
 
The Terriers gained their edge in multiple facets, one of the most notable being the turnover battle. Wofford committed just seven turnovers while securing 12 takeaways, converting those into 18 points off turnovers. The Terriers also were better in the paint, 42-30. The Terriers earned a slight advantage in the rebounding battle, 35-33, but with 12 offensive boards Wofford earned 19 second chance points while holding High Point to eight. The Panthers did not get a single bench point while the Terriers notched 21 points from subs.
 
"I didn't really realize it was that much," said Garrity of the second chance points differential. "Nineteen to eight, it didn't seem like that during the game. But that's big, and you look back at that and if that's cut in half it's a whole different game. And points in the paint with 42, points off turnovers, converting their turnovers into points was really great at 18."
 
Wofford was led by four in double-digits, two of which reached 20. Rachael Rose scored 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting to lead the way while also dishing a team-leading four assists. Jackie Carman added 20 points of her own on 6-of-9 shooting, 3-of-3 from three. Carman secured 17 of her 20 points in the first half alone. This is Rose's second-straight game with a 20-ball and Carman's third in a row. The duo has posted concurring 20-point efforts for now back-to-back games.
 
Helen Matthews totaled 15 points and was one board away from a double-double with a career-high nine to pace the squad. Indiya Clarke posted 11 points to round out the double-digit scorers with her career-best outing. She added six boards.
 
"We had some big-time players step up," added Garrity of the individual efforts. "Rachael was fantastic. I thought Indiya gave us a huge lift off the bench with 11 points. And Helen, to come in and get 15 points, nine rebounds was just tremendous. Of course Jackie was on fire the first half and really carried us. And they made some adjustments on her, give them credit – they made it tough for her in the second half, but she did a great job sharing the ball and then making plays for us."
 
Jessie Parish added five points and four rebounds. Annabelle Schultz and Lilly Hatton each contributed four points. Sydnee Richetto netted three points while Abbey Crawford secured two to round out the scoring.
 
The first quarter was a back-and-forth tilt to open the contest. After Wofford won the opening tip, Helen Matthews kick things off in style by popping a three just 15 seconds into the game. After trading blows and close leads the entire way, Jessie Parish hit a trey at the 1:47 mark to pull Wofford within a point. The Panthers hit a jumper, but Rachael Rose came through with a pair of buckets to lift the Terriers to a one-point lead, 14-13, after 10 minutes of play.
 
Jackie Carman followed Matthews' lead and popped a three of her own to open quarter two. The sides traded some more blows, however, but Carman hit another three at the 5:19 mark. Though the Panthers responded with a bucket, the Terriers hit a stride and rattled off an 11-point run. High Point ended the roll with a three, but Carman put home a score and converted the and one off the foul to end the half with Wofford on top 41-31.
 
By way of a Rachael Rose triple and Indiya Clarke jumper, the Terriers stretched their lead to 15 at the 7:42 mark in the third. But High Point kept pushing and knocking down threes, cutting Wofford's lead under double figures on multiple occasions. But Matthews secured a three-point play at the 2:56 mark to get Wofford back up to 11 ahead (61-50), and the Terriers held firm for a 64-52 lead entering the final quarter.
 
Needing some momentum, High Point found it by way of a seven-point run to open quarter four. Wofford's lead was cut to five (64-59) with 7:46 left. The teams traded some blows before another Panther triple made the margin four points (68-64) with 6:08 remaining. A big Sydnee Richetto triple with 4:59 left seemed to give Wofford a boost, but that momentum was immediately nixed when High Point hit another three. A Panther layup brought them back within five (76-71) at the 3:52 mark, but Rose and Matthews each scored to keep some distance. Another High Point three kept it alive with 1:28 remaining and the score at 80-74, and a pair of offsetting twos kept the margin at six with 47 seconds left. But Wofford held off High Point's efforts thanks to a Rose layup with 32 seconds left, and with so little time left, the Panthers had to foul. Wofford kept converting at the line, and though the Panthers would get one more three with 13 seconds left, it was too little too late. Time ran out, and Wofford emerged victorious by a score of 88-79.
 
The Terriers will remain on the road for another contest in the Tar Heel State on Tuesday, Nov. 22. Wofford travels to UNC Wilmington with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m.