CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – With under a second remaining in the contest and the Wofford women's basketball team trailing by one, Rachael Rose clutched up to put home a game-winning bucket to secure a historic 71-70 triumph for the Terriers over Virginia Saturday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena. Wofford improves to 7-4 with the win, and Virginia falls to 7-3.
 
The victory is Wofford's first ever over an ACC school, and it comes in the first meeting between the programs. It is only the second Power Five win in program history, the first being a 58-52 win over Alabama on December 17, 2012.
 
"I'm so happy and proud of our players," said head coach Jimmy Garrity. "To see their excitement on the court when the clock went to zero, it was just amazing. They put in a lot of work. The biggest thing is they believed. We talk about Christmas and believing this time of year, and they believed they could come in here and get a win. I thought our toughness was just incredible. Virginia is a big, physical, strong, very talented team, and to get our first ACC win is quite impressive."
 
Both teams shot well at over 40 percent, but Wofford was a touch better at 46.6 percent (27-of-58) compared to the 41.2 percent clip of UVA (28-of-68). The Terriers also knocked down 11 threes at a 42.3 percent mark while holding the Cavaliers to four treys at 17.4 percent. Despite UVA claiming a 45-27 advantage in the rebounding battle, the Terriers forced 17 Cavalier turnovers with 11 total steals, a new season high for swipes. Wofford also dished 16 assists.
 
"It definitely came from our scout, knowing what they're going to do, knowing who gets hot on our team and personnel," said Maddie Heiss of the team's defensive efforts. "And we all went in on that, and we were able to create stops."
 
Junior Rachael Rose led the way for Wofford, barely missing out on a triple-double with 21 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. She led the team in all three marks with her assists being a career high. Rose added in three steals. She was 7-of-15 from the floor and 6-of-7 at the charity stripe, but no bucket was bigger than her final one, which was the game winner with 0.4 seconds left.
 
"We looked a little bit frazzled (on the play), but then the ball got back in her (Rose's) hands with about four or five seconds to go, and I knew she was going to find a way to get something up," said Garrity of Rose's game winner. "Of course she got the angle, and it's just a tremendous shot to be able to make it under pressure under two people six-foot-plus guarding her."
 
Maddie Heiss and Indiya Clarke, freshman and sophomore, respectively, joined her in double figures. Heiss posted 16 points with two boards, and Clarke added 15 points with two rebounds. Freshman Evangelia Paulk tallied nine points with five rebounds and three assists.
 
Seniors Annabelle Schultz and Ja'Rae Smith each had three points by way of a three-pointer. Schultz added five boards and a team-leading five steals. Vitolia Tuilave secured two points, as did Sara Deidda to round out the scoring with each Terrier to play recording a bucket.
 
"We have just been really focusing on getting our offense crisper today and throughout the week, and we just executed and trusted in each other to hit big shots when we needed it. And that just showed on the court," said Indiya Clarke of the offensive efforts.
 
After winning the opening tip, Virginia did not take long to score with a layup just 14 seconds into the contest. However, Maddie Heiss quickly responded with a three-pointer to push Wofford in front for the first time in the game. The Cavaliers responded with a bucket and three to pull back in front. They led the rest of the quarter, but Wofford did not make it comfortable with a total of five three-pointers in the frame. Indiya Clarke drilled one and then added another to nullify a Cavalier trey. Annabelle Schultz and Rachael Rose went back-to-back from distance to close the quarter, pulling Wofford within a point, 16-15, entering the second.
 
UVA opened the second quarter with five-straight points before Rachael Rose converted a pair at the free throw line. After trading some points, Rose swished inside before an Annabelle Schultz steal led to a score for Evangelia Paulk to cut the margin to two. Two more Rose free throws would tie the game at 23 with 6:32 on the clock. But the Cavaliers embarked on a 10-point run to create some separation, and after trading some scores UVA led by 11 (36-25) with 2:04 to go. Undeterred, Wofford kept pushing with a Rose score. After a Cavalier free throw, Maddie Heiss popped a trey in the final minute to pull Wofford within 37-30 entering the break.
 
Wofford opened the second half with authority, as Evangelia Paulk hit a jumper a minute into the third quarter, and Maddie Heiss followed up with her own before a pair of Rachael Rose free throws cut the score to one at the 7:37 mark. The teams continued to trade blows as Wofford pulled within two multiple times. A Sara Deidda score followed by a Paulk bucket to cut the deficit to 44-42, but UVA would then find a small groove to pull back out to an eight-point lead, 52-44, at the 54 second mark. But Heiss again connected from distance in the final minute to make it a five-point affair entering the final frame, 52-47.
 
The Terriers kept a foot on the gas pedal entering the fourth, as Indiya Clarke immediately drained a triple before Maddie Heiss put home a score following a clutch Ja'Rae Smith box-out and rebound. With the game tied, UVA called a timeout and hit a three-pointer to reclaim the lead. But Wofford was unbothered as Smith promptly put home a three of her own to retie the game. Clarke got to work inside with back-to-back buckets, and Wofford led by four (59-55) with 6:13 to go. UVA fought back to pull level again, but Vitolia Tuilave responded with a bucket for the lead. The sides traded the lead a couple of times from there. Rachael Rose scored for a one-point advantage with 2:27 remaining. But UVA pulled in front by two with an and-one. Heiss again connected from downtown with 1:19 to play, pushing Wofford ahead 69-68. Things went cold from there until the Cavaliers secured a steal and scored with 27 seconds left to pull ahead by one. Wofford began its final possession and searched for a shot, and it was Rose who finally got a look, connecting on a mid-range bucket with 0.4 remaining on the game clock. The UVA last-ditch inbound went to Annabelle Schultz, whose steal officially iced the affair as a 71-70 Wofford victory.
 
"Honestly, it was pretty chaotic. We weren't really running anything – we were just trying to get a shot off," said Rose of her game-winner and its sequence. "And I got an open look, and my teammates trusted me to make the shot. Luckily it went down."
 
The Terriers will continue their road swing on Tuesday, December 19, when they travel to Knoxville, Tennessee for a match-up against Tennessee. Tip-off against the Lady Volunteers is slated for 6:30 p.m.