ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The Wofford women's basketball team was locked in a tight battle with the UNC Asheville Bulldogs Monday evening in Kimmel Arena until a 14-point run in the third quarter changed the game, propelling the Terriers to a 79-67 triumph. The road win lifts Wofford to 9-3 on the season while Asheville drops to 4-6.
 
Wofford's nine non-conference wins are the second most in program history, just behind the 10 of the 2016-17 campaign.
 
The Terriers shot 41.2 percent (28-of-68) from the field, but they had an off night from distance at just 15.6 percent (5-of-32). Asheville posted marks of 36.4 percent (24-of-66) and 22.6 percent (7-of-31). The charity stripe was huge for the Terriers, as Wofford went 18-of-23 at the line, a 78.3 percent rate.
 
"That was big," said head coach Jimmy Garrity of the free throw shooting. "[Asheville's] a very aggressive team. They're scrappy; they're well-coached, so we knew we had to take care of the ball. We thought if we could take care of the ball we wanted to get paint touches. I thought we were driving the ball really well. And when you do that, we were fortunate enough to get to the free throw line."
 
Wofford also held the rebounding advantage, 47-41, and again won the turnover battle by committing 11 and forcing 14. The Terriers dished 16 assists as well, topping the nine of Asheville.
 
"We've been really good at sharing the ball all year long," said Garrity. "Sixteen assists to 11 turnovers… I'm super proud of their effort because it's a tough game. You could easily look ahead to Christmas vacation, and playing on the road in back-to-back road games, so I can't tell you how proud I am of that group."
 
Four Terriers scored in double figures, led by Rachael Rose's 18 points. She also secured 10 boards to pace the squad and record a double-double, her second of the season and fifth of her career. Rose also notched the team lead in assists with four.
 
Annabelle Schultz tallied 12 points in her hometown. The Asheville, N.C. native recorded three assists, three boards and three steals in front of her family and friends.
 
"It was awesome. My high school team actually came out, so it was really cool to see them in the stands and some people I went to high school with and my family, of course," said Schultz of her homecoming. "So it was awesome to just see them out there."
 
Helen Matthews also delivered 12 points, securing seven boards as well. Jackie Carman rounds out the double-digit scorers with 11 points, extending her streak of consecutive double-digit-scoring games to 13. She sits one shy of tying Chloe Wanink's program record of 14. Carman also dished three assists and notched three boards.
 
Abbey Crawford netted eight points with four rebounds. Ja'Rae Smith and Indiya Clarke each posted seven points. Smith dished a pair of assists, and Clarke added five boards. Lilly Hatton rounds out Wofford's scoring with four points alongside five rebounds.
 
Asheville opened the contest with the first four points, but Rachael Rose's layup put the Terriers on the board and sparked a 10-point run to give Wofford the lead. Another run, this one eight points, would help lift the Terriers to a 22-12 advantage after a quarter of play.
 
The Bulldogs began to fight back in the second, pulling to within three points (25-22) with 7:22 remaining. Rachael Rose notched a layup to end that run, but the Bulldogs stayed close and pulled within two (30-28) at the 4:41 mark. Rose again struck with a three, sparking another 10-point swing to recreate some breathing room for the Terriers with a 40-28 score entering the final minute. But Asheville recorded the final four points of the quarter to make the score 40-32 entering the break.
 
The Bulldogs came out of halftime and seemed ready, popping a three just 30 seconds in. But Annabelle Schultz was also ready, and she responded in kind with her own trey 46 seconds later. This sparked a 14-point run that lifted Wofford to a 19-point lead (54-35) with 4:21 to go. The squads would trade blows the rest of the way, and Wofford carried a 62-44 lead into the final frame.
 
"We kind of held that six to 10-point lead, and then we had about a three-minute stretch where we really scored the ball," said Garrity of the big swing. "We got stops on one end and then rebounds, and we really played in transition. We got some threes during that time. I was really impressed with how we got out and ran tonight."
 
Helen Matthews opened the final quarter with a three-pointer to lift Wofford's lead over 20 (65-44). Asheville would put up a fight and eventually cut the margin down to 12, but that came with a three-pointer in the closing minute of the contest with the outcome already known. The deficit was too large to climb out of, and the Terriers secured a 79-67 road win over the Bulldogs.
 
"We knew this was the hardest two-game stretch with the thought of Christmas creeping into our minds and wanting to get home to spend some time with our families, so we knew we had to take care of business these last two games to have a great holiday," said Schultz of winning back-to-back road games before the holiday break.
 
Wofford will now get a little over a week off for the holidays before returning to the court for the final game of the four-game road swing. The Terriers travel to Knoxville to take on Tennessee on Tuesday, Dec. 27. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 pm.