SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Behind the energy of a season-high crowd inside the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, the Wofford women's basketball team shot nearly 40% and swatted a season-best six blocks to earn a 64-51 triumph Thursday night over the Chattanooga Mocs. Wofford improves to 13-5 (3-1) with the result while Chattanooga falls to 10-9 (2-2 SoCon).
 
"Chattanooga's really good. They're so athletic; they can score at all three levels; they play really hard," said head coach Jimmy Garrity of the win. "I thought their defense was fantastic tonight. So to overcome those things and to find a way to get paint touches and shoot the ball fairly well – we haven't shot that well the past couple of games – so tonight was just a big win. It's always great to be at home. And I want to give another shoutout to our men's basketball team; they were here cheering us on. It makes a huge difference."
 
The win extends Wofford's Division I-record home winning streak to 10 games. The Terriers felt the energy of a crowd that was 486 strong, a new season high. Wofford has now won four in a row over the Mocs.
 
"That's awesome," said senior Lilly Hatton of the crowd. "We appreciate our men's team, our volleyball team – I think even our lacrosse team was here today. So their support means everything to us. We love our fellow athletic programs. And personally, my family made the drive from Indiana, so anytime they're here I want to make sure I show up."
 
"It's always great to have the students back," added Garrity. "We haven't had them here in a while. So to have them back and the energy and the atmosphere in this arena was fantastic. And our girls feed off of that."
 
After the last two games were rough for the Terriers offensively, Wofford bounced back tonight to shoot 39.3 percent (24-of-61) overall and knock down 10 threes on 29 attempts, a 34.5 percent clip. The Mocs were held to 32.7 percent (18-of-55) overall and 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from distance.
 
"It's what we feed off of, is scoring," said Garrity of the offensive pick-up. "I tell people all the time you become a much better coach when you make shots. And our players did that tonight. We shared the ball fairly well – we had eight assists to six turnovers. So just holding that number down and not giving them transition scores was really key for us."
 
Chattanooga was 90.9 percent successful (10-of-11) at the charity stripe and held a slight rebounding edge, 32-29, but the Terriers were stout with a season-high six blocks. Wofford also kept things clean with a season-low seven fouls committed and another season low with just six turnovers committed. The Terriers forced 10 Moc giveaways.
 
"It's amazing," said Jackie Carman of the team's ball security tonight. "Our point guard, Rachael Rose, she kind of heads the team, and I think she has a lot of poise, and that just kind of trickles down to everybody. It's just a lot of game management and understanding where the ball needs to go, and I think we do a great job of that."
 
Wofford's 64 points were scored by just four players, with Jackie Carman and Lilly Hatton leading the way with 21 points each. This is the second time this season that a duo of Terriers have posted 20-pieces in the same game as Rachael Rose and Carman did it first against Coastal Carolina on Nov. 16 with 23 and 22, respectively.
 
Carman earned her points on 8-of-17 shooting and 3-of-8 from downtown. She added six boards to go alongside her fifth 20-point outing of the campaign.
 
Hatton was 8-of-16 overall while knocking down five threes to match her career high. Hatton led the squad with eight boards and notched four blocks, also matching her career best.
 
"That's huge," said Hatton of being able to contribute on both ends of the floor. "We know our defensive momentum is what's going to fuel us on the offensive end. So getting stops, getting blocks – those are all really important things that we're emphasizing every day in practice. And then offensively, I've just been in the gym. Coach [Garrity] is putting in a lot of time getting up shots with me, making sure everything looks the same way every time I shoot it so when I get in the game, I'm not thinking about. I'm just letting it go, and it's going in."
 
Rachael Rose and Helen Matthews each scored 11 points to round out Wofford's scoring. Rose secured seven rebounds and led the team with five assists and two steals. Matthews added four boards, a block and a steal.
 
Though scoreless, Annabelle Schultz notched a block while securing a pair of rebounds and dishing an assist.
 
Chattanooga scored first, but the Terriers scored four points to jump ahead before the Mocs tied the contest. Lilly Hatton then put Wofford ahead for good when she drilled a three-pointer at the 7:02 mark. This sparked a 14-point run that saw Jackie Carman net her own trey before Hatton buried another. Carman then got three the old-fashioned way before putting home another lay-up to set Wofford up with an 18-4 advantage at the 1:37 mark. The Terriers carried a 21-6 lead into the second quarter.
 
Chattanooga found a rhythm in the second and went blow-for-blow with Wofford for a while before utilizing a nine-point swing to pull within five points (27-22) at the 3:04 mark. But Rachael Rose drained a triple, and Lilly Hatton did the same in the final minute of the half to give Wofford a 33-25 lead entering the break.
 
The Terriers picked up some breathing room out of halftime when Helen Matthews scored a lay-in before Rachael Rose connected again from beyond the arc. A nine-point run by Wofford extended the margin to 17 points (49-32) with 3:37 to go. The Mocs pulled back to within 10 with just over two minutes left, but Jackie Carman hit a three to spark a six-point swing that concluded the frame with Wofford leading by 16 points, 55-39.
 
The fourth quarter saw tighter defense by both squads, which did not fare well for the Mocs as they needed buckets that would not fall. Jackie Carman utilized a three-point play to extend Wofford's lead to 18 with 4:06 left, and after the Mocs scored she hit from distance to put Wofford's lead back to 18 (64-46) with 2:20 remaining. Chattanooga scored the game's final five points from there, but it would not matter as the margin was too great. Wofford claimed the 64-51 triumph on its home court.
 
"Chattanooga's a great team, and every single win counts in conference," said Carman. "And just knowing we have that quick turnaround gives us a lot of confidence, especially on the defensive end."
 
The Terriers remain inside the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 21 when they host ETSU. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m., and the contest will be Youth Basketball Day as all children who wear their youth league jersey will get in for free.