WILMINGTON, N.C. – Down one with 29 seconds left, the Wofford women's basketball team found the game-winner by way of freshman Indiya Clarke's biggest play yet, as her board and put-back bucket on a missed free throw proved the difference-maker in Wofford's 67-66 win at UNC Wilmington. After the hard-fought win Tuesday night in Trask Coliseum, the Terriers improve to 3-2 on the campaign. UNCW falls to 1-3.
 
After starting the season 0-2, Wofford has now won three in a row to move over .500 on the campaign. The last two wins have been on the road.
 
"After coming out to an 0-2 start, we realized this is our chance to turn it around," said Rachael Rose. "So this game was really important, especially right before the Thanksgiving holiday, and we just wanted to go into the holiday with a win."
 
The Seahawks out-shot the Terriers on the night, posting a 42.1 percent clip overall and 47.8 percent from three. Wofford was still solid at 39.1 percent and 37.5 percent from distance. UNCW held the rebounding edge as well, 39-33, but turnovers proved decisive. The Terriers secured 16 takeaways for 10 points off turnovers. Entering tonight, Wofford averaged 10.0 turnovers per game, fourth-fewest in the nation, and the Terriers continued to keep it clean by committing just nine turnovers.
 
"When you go on the road, No. one you've got to take care of the ball, and you've got to rebound the ball" said head coach Jimmy Garrity of the turnover margin. "And we've done a fantastic job of taking care of the ball all year long. And to be honest, that nine probably should've been about seven. There were two that we really shouldn't have made. But in the first half, those turnovers were turning into layups for them, and that's tough. So I thought in the second half we did a much better job of handling the ball."
 
The game was a back-and-forth tilt the whole way with four ties and 15 total lead changes. The fourth quarter alone featured seven of those lead changes, but the Terriers outscored the Seahawks 23-17 in that decisive frame.
 
"We just wanted to play a 10-minute game, and we started out a little bit slow," said head coach Jimmy Garrity of the fourth-quarter mentality. "And I'll give UNCW a ton of credit. It was more what they were doing than it was what we weren't doing. No. 3, No. 13 were really good tonight, and we just didn't have much of an answer for it. But I'll give our kids so much credit. I am so proud of them, the way they just hung in there and fought and got rebounds down the stretch and started making some plays."
 
Rachael Rose remained flaming hot, leading the Terriers with 22 points for her third-straight 20-point outing. Rose was 8-of-14 overall and 4-of-6 from three, with those four treys marking a new career high. She added four assists. This is the fourth-straight game in which at least one Terrier has reached 20 points.
 
"This wasn't our best game offensively by any means, but the way we stuck together and made shots when it counted, I think that says a lot about the players we have in this locker room and the season that we're going to have ahead," said Rose of the offense.
 
Helen Matthews and Jackie Carman joined Rose in double figures, scoring 14 and 13, respectively. Matthews led the team with five assists and added four boards. Carman recorded three assists and four rebounds.
 
Jessie Parish made the first start of her young career, and the freshman led the rebounding efforts with seven. She notched seven points as well.
 
Sydnee Richetto added three points. Annabelle Schultz, Indiya Clarke, Abbey Crawford and Ja'Rae Smith all contributed two points each to round out the scoring. Every Terrier that played scored. No points may have been bigger than Clarke's, as her only two came on the game-winning bucket.
 
"You're thinking, 'Hey, we're going to make these two free throws, tie the game – now we just need one stop.' And then to get that rebound and to have the courage to just take it up strong, right back up and finish," said Garrity of Clarke's game-winning play. "I think I was over there yelling, 'Get it out. Get it out – good shot!' I'm so happy for her. She's been working really hard, and she's playing really well."
 
UNCW opened the contest with the first bucket, but Helen Matthews immediately responded with a three and jumper to get Wofford on top early. The Terriers continued to hold a close lead the entirety of the quarter, but a seven-point Seahawk run late closed the gap and put UNCW ahead by a point with seven seconds left. But Rachael Rose scored a quick buzzer-beating layup to put the Terriers back in front, 16-15, after the first.
 
That lead was short-lived, as five points for the Seahawks to open the second quarter reversed the score for a 20-19 UNCW lead at the 8:15 mark. But Rose and Sydnee Richetto each popped threes, sparking an 11-point Terrier run, punctuated by another three, this time from Jessie Parish. That gave Wofford a 27-20 edge with 5:11 to go. However, the Seahawks found a nine-point run in response to regain the lead with 2:39 left at 29-27. Though Jackie Carman hit a buzzer-beating three before half, the Terriers went into the break trailing 31-30.
 
UNCW was able to extend its lead to seven at the 7:32 mark in the third, but Helen Matthews put home a layup, and Rachael Rose dropped in another trey to cut the deficit to two (37-39) with 6:36 left. However, UNCW had a three of its own waiting in response. Carman would tie the contest with her own three-ball at 3:54 for a 42-all score, and Rose put in a layup for the lead at 1:48 (44-42). But the Seahawks again went on a run to flip the script and lead 49-44 entering the fourth.
 
Needing to gain some momentum entering the final frame, Jessie Parish delivered for the Terriers with back-to-back layups to open the quarter. Rachael Rose then splashed yet another triple to put Wofford back on top, 51-49, with 6:33 left. But the Seahawks hit their own three, and then they scored another after Ja'Rae Smith's jumper to pull within one. Jackie Carman hit a three, but UNCW went on another run, this time seven points, to lead 62-56 with 3:46 remaining. After trading some more blows, Rose hit from distance once more to pull Wofford within two (66-64) at the 2:14 mark. Then things went quiet, with neither side able to score. Wofford called a timeout with 36 seconds remaining, and seven seconds later the Seahawks fouled Rose to send her to the line with 29 seconds left.
 
Rose delivered on the first foul shot, making it a one-point contest. The second shot hit the rim and bounced off, however, and the ball dropped down to the players crashing below. UNCW scrambled for the hopeful game-winning rebound, but instead it was Indiya Clarke who snagged the ball. Wasting no time, the freshman immediately turned and put the ball right back up, and it came back down through the hoop. The clutch board and bucket put the Terriers back on top one final time as UNCW called a timeout with 26 seconds to go. On the ensuing play, the Seahawks looked for their own game-winner, but the shot missed the mark and found the waiting hands of Helen Matthews, who secured the rebounds and dribbled out the final few seconds for the Wofford win, 67-66.
 
"I think my role this season had been to get rebounds, so I proved then that I could do it," said Clarke of her game-winning board and bucket. "It's really special, especially when you lean on your teammates the entire game, it's nice to know for once you can be leaned on and be held accountable and know that you're going to make a big-time situation bucket."
 
"That free throw rebound by Indiya to put us up one and back in was just fantastic," said Garrity. "And that's one of those things we practice. I've told them, 'Crossing on free throws is going to win us a game sometime this year.' And what better time to do it than right before Thanksgiving?"
 
The Terriers will get almost a week off for Thanksgiving before returning home on Monday, Nov. 28 for a match-up against Southern Wesleyan. Tip-off from Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium is set for 7:00 p.m.