SPARTANBURG, S.C. – It was a hard-fought affair for the Wofford women's basketball team inside the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium on Saturday afternoon, but the Terriers held strong and outlasted the Samford Bulldogs for the 60-52 victory on senior day. Wofford improves to 14-11 overall, 9-2 in SoCon action. Samford falls to 12-15, 7-6 in league play.
 
This was a historic win for the Terriers, as the result secured Wofford's first-ever season series sweep over Samford. With nine conference wins, the Terriers tie the mark for most league wins in a season – a 9-9 record in the 2001-02 campaign. It guarantees as well a new best-ever SoCon record, breaking the mark of 8-6 set by the 2019-20 squad.
 
Before the game, Wofford honored its 2022 senior class, which featured Elena Pulanco, MaryMartha Turner, Alea Harris, Alexis Tomlin and Niyah Lutz. With the win, they are the first group of seniors to win their senior day game since the 2018-19 season (an 84-75 win over Furman on Feb. 23, 2019). With a 58-52 record, this senior class is the winningest at the Division I level in program history, and today's result guarantees that they will be the first Division I class in the program's history to finish with a record above .500.
 
"That's the class, that all four years, the culture that those guys have created – it's really special," said head coach Jimmy Garrity of his 2022 seniors. "In the pregame speech, at the end I have some motivational things – this time I just wrote down 'seniors.' And I told myself, 'I'm not going to shed a tear.' And I looked at all those guys, and I lost it… Those guys have really made a mark on this college, not just on our program, but at the college, in this community."
 
"It's honestly just a great feeling," said senior guard Alea Harris of the first senior day victory since 18-19. "For my teammates and for all of us to work together – it wasn't necessarily the prettiest game, but for us all to work together and be able to come out with a victory is huge for all of us. And it just shows really how together this team has been this entire year."
 
"Being a senior, you've watched a lot of senior nights, and it's always super important for the girls that are graduating," added senior forward Alexis Tomlin. "Being a part of that class today was super awesome, and just getting the win for my fellow seniors was really cool."
 
Wofford shot 31.8 percent from the field, 25.0 percent from three. Samford's overall shooting was slightly better at 34.4 percent, but the Bulldogs lagged behind from beyond the arc with a 14.3 percent clip. Samford held the rebounding advantage at 40-34, but Wofford was stout on defense, forcing 18 Bulldog turnovers. The Terriers converted these miscues into 17 extra points, and Wofford held its own turnover number to single-digits with just eight. The game was a back-and-forth tilt, featuring nine lead changes. Wofford led the majority of the game, though, totaling 31:14 ahead while Samford only led for 6:53.
 
"Samford's such a good team. They're so talented," said Garrity. "It takes our best effort from everybody. I thought we did a good job of getting deflections and hands on the ball. That first half was really good defensively. I thought we rebounded the ball well. We turned them over 18 times, so when you do that and take care of the ball, you have a good chance to win."
 
Wofford was led by four double-digits scorers, with Jackie Carman's 17 points pacing the squad. Four of her six field goals were three-balls, and she was 50.0 percent from beyond the arc this afternoon (4-of-8). She added three rebounds, two steals and an assist.
 
Reagan Rapert posted 14 points with five boards, two assists and two steals. She was money from the free throw line, knocking down all eight of her foul shots.
 
Niyah Lutz was close to a triple-double for a second-straight Saturday, tallying 12 points, eight boards and a team-leading six assists.
 
Lilly Hatton totaled 10 points and six rebounds. Her three blocks are a new season-high.
 
Alexis Tomlin led the way with nine boards, as she is now four shy of reaching the milestone of 500 career rebounds. She also swiped a career-high four steals.
 
Samford won the opening tip and scored the first four points, but a triple from Jackie Carman followed by a Niyah Lutz layup put Wofford in front. The teams would play tug-of-war with the lead, with Samford claiming a one-point advantage at the 2:41 mark. 20 seconds later, Niyah Lutz drained a three-pointer thanks to a dish from Reagan Rapert, who then hit a jumper to put the Terriers up by four after the first quarter.
 
Samford turned the pressure up in the second frame, tying the affair at 13 all with a three-pointer at the 7:47 mark. Lilly Hatton's layup put Wofford back ahead, but the lead would change hands twice more, the latter coming via a six-point Wofford run. Reagan Rapert's jumper secured the lead, and then the bigs went to work in the paint to extend it. Hatton and Alexis Tomlin each sank layups to put the Terriers in front by five with 4:41 left. However, the Bulldogs answered with a six-point run of their own to enter the break with the lead, holding a 22-21 advantage over the Terriers.
 
Wofford came out of the half ready for action, scoring six-straight points. First, Alexis Tomlin scored in the paint for the lead, then Jackie Carman went to work to net the next four points via a free throw and three-ball. The teams traded some blows, but Wofford was able to stretch its lead to double figures for the first time thanks to Niyah Lutz drilling a trey with 4:46 remaining. Wofford led 37-26. The Bulldogs responded with a score, and then the defenses clamped down, as neither team scored for just under three and a half minutes. Carman broke that streak when she swished a three-pointer from deep in the final seconds of the quarter to give Wofford a 12-point lead, 40-28.
 
Samford came out on the attack to try and comeback, but the Terriers were not relenting, matching the Bulldogs in stride. Another Jackie Carman three-pointer gave Wofford a 13-point lead with 7:32 left, and though Samford secured a layup, Reagan Rapert nixed it with a jumper. The Bulldogs then found life, scoring six unanswered points to cut the lead to seven at the 4:11 mark. Carman swiped a steal and put home the fastbreak score to end the run, but the Bulldogs responded with four more points. Wofford took a timeout to regroup after Lilly Hatton was fouled with 1:48 remaining, the lead now down to just five points (49-44). Hatton hit her first free throw but missed the second, and a Wofford foul on the rebound sent the Bulldogs to line, where they converted both to chip the lead down to four. Niyah Lutz came up big with a layup, and then Samford entered foul mode, sensing the time running thin. Rapert was the benefactor, receiving eight free shots in the final 1:03 of the game, all of which she cashed in to ice the contest. Wofford held firm, winning 60-52.
 
"We knew not to hang our heads too much on Mercer because we have to turn right back around and play against a well-coached team," said senior guard Niyah Lutz of the bounce back win after Thursday's loss to Mercer. "So same thing with this one – we won't get too high because we have to turn around and play against UNCG on Monday, so we're just rolling with the punches."
 
The Terriers remain at home for their final game in Spartanburg on Monday night when they host the UNCG Spartans at 7:00 p.m. Wofford then hits to road for a pair of games in Tennessee to conclude to regular season, facing ETSU on Thursday, Feb. 24 and Chattanooga on Saturday, Feb. 26.