SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The offense was firing on all cylinders Tuesday night for Wofford women's basketball as the Terriers picked up a 30-point victory, 82-52, over NC Central in Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. Behind Rachael Rose's 20-piece and Vitolia Tuilave's double-double, Wofford improved to 3-1 on the young season while NCCU dropped to 0-2.
 
The Terriers shot 45.2 percent (33-of-73) in the contest with seven three-pointers made. NC Central was held to a 33.3 percent (19-of-57) mark with five threes. Wofford owned the glass, securing 49 boards to the 34 of the Eagles. Notably, 14 of Wofford's rebounds were offensive with NCCU only garnering four offensive boards. This led to Wofford doubling up NCCU on second chance points, 16-8.
 
"I was really proud of our rebounding effort because we knew that was going to be a big deal," said head coach Jimmy Garrity. "We held them to four offensive rebounds, and we got double-digit offensive rebounds… We preached that in the last few days of practice that it's probably going to come down to rebounding. Some of their best offense is rebounding their own misses and getting put-backs or getting to the free throw line. So it's always good to be able to rebound the ball."
 
The Terriers again thrived in the paint, securing 32 paint points to just 16 for the Eagles, and it was Wofford's third-straight game with 30-plus paint points.
 
"It's something that our coach has been nailing into us because we have found it's been a big part of our wins," said Vitolia Tuilave of the paint scoring. "It sets us up. We've got awesome shooters, get kick-outs and lots of people that can get to the rim as well."
 
Junior Rachael Rose led the scoring with 22 points, but her 13^th point of the night was perhaps her biggest, as it marked the 1,000^th of her career. Rose now owns 1,009 total points between her time at USC Upstate and Wofford. She was 10-of-19 in tonight's contest with seven boards and seven assists to fall just short of a triple-double. Defensively, she swiped a team-high four steals, half of Wofford's eight.
 
"It feels really good. It's just another milestone for my teammates and I," said Rose of joining the 1,000-points club. "Everything I do revolves around them, and they set me up in great positions, so this is a win for all of us."
 
"I'm just super proud of Rachael," said Garrity of Rose's accomplishment. "She comes every day to work, and she works on her craft every single day outside of practice. She's a great leader, a great competitor."
 
Two freshmen joined Rose in double figures, with Vitolia Tuilave putting together a career night. With a career-high 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting, Tuilave added a career-best 12 boards to secure her first-career double-double. She is the fourth different Terrier to record a double-double this season.
 
"Bana (Tuilave) was just off the charts really good," said Garrity. "She scored six of our first eight points, and she just kept it going. A double-double for her, and everybody was so excited for her in that locker room. It was pretty good to experience that with her."
 
Maddie Heiss was the other double-digit-scoring rookie with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting with a 4-of-7 three-point clip. Sophomore Indiya Clarke added nine points and 10 boards, falling just shy of her second double-double. Clarke added three assists, a block and a steal.
 
Another freshman shined tonight in Sara Deidda. Though only playing 11 minutes, Deidda scored seven points, the most in her young career to this point, with a pair of threes made. Those are the first three-pointers sunk in her career. She added four boards.
 
Annabelle Schultz scored four points with nine rebounds and four assists. Ja'Rae Smith added three points, and Evangelia Paulk tallied two points and three rebounds to round out Wofford's scoring.
 
Wofford only needed 40 seconds to get on the board with a paint score by Vitolia Tuilave. She continued to work down low, adding two more buckets over the next two minutes to own six of Wofford's first eight points as the Terriers led 8-3 early at the 6:28 mark. NC Central kept things close, and the squads traded some blows, but the Terriers stayed a step ahead. An Eagle three cut the lead to 12-10 with 1:51 to go, but Maddie Heiss drained a three in response less than 20 seconds later. Despite an NCCU jumper, Annabelle Schultz scored a layup in the final 30 seconds of the quarter to give Wofford a 17-12 advantage after 10 minutes.
 
NC Central pulled within two points twice in the first minute of the second quarter, but Maddie Heiss hit a jumper before Annabelle Schultz did the same. Evangelia Paulk added her own make, and Vitolia Tuilave again scored in the paint to mark an eight-point Wofford run for a 27-17 Terrier lead at the 5:58 mark. The teams traded some blows, and NC Central put home a layup late in the quarter to pull the margin back to 10 (39-29) with 34 seconds before halftime. But an Indiya Clarke free throw led to a Heiss bucket in the closing seconds, and Wofford entered the break up 42-29. With a 12-of-18 shooting clip in quarter two, Wofford shot 66.7 percent in the frame with 25 total points.
 
Wofford pushed the margin further in the third quarter with 25 more points. Vitolia Tuilave opened the second half the same way she did the first – with a paint score. But NC Central stayed step-for-step with Wofford early. Maddie Heiss drained another three at the 6:10 mark to make Wofford's lead 17 (51-34), but three more Eagle points thereafter nullified the basket. However, the Terriers got back to work with back-to-back threes from Heiss and Rachael Rose. Despite a pair of NCCU free throws at the 1:59 mark, the Terriers followed with a six-point run that featured yet another Heiss three-ball and a Ja'Rae Smith three-point play the old-fashioned way. The Eagles added a three of their own in the final minute, but as the final seconds ticked away toward quarter four, Sara Deidda put up a three-pointer at the buzzer than rattled home, the first of her career, to give the Terriers a 67-45 advantage with 10 to play.
 
Deidda stayed hot to open the fourth, drilling another trey 50 seconds into frame. Rachael Rose added an and-one play with 6:09 on the clock to put Wofford ahead 75-49. The Eagles put forth some scoring efforts but seemingly ran out of gas in the fourth, mustering only seven points in the frame. Indiya Clarke added two free throws late before putting home a fastbreak score to push Wofford over 80 points for the first time this season. The Terriers would close out the contest with an 82-52 win.
 
After a perfect 3-0 homestand, Wofford hits the road for the first time since the opener with a tilt at High Point on Friday, November 17. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. against the Panthers.