KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Wofford women's basketball team fought hard inside Food City Center Tuesday night, but the Tennessee Lady Volunteers ultimately prevailed 85-63. The Terriers drop to 7-5 on the campaign while the Lady Vols improve to 6-5.
 
Wofford gave Tennessee a fight with a 35.7 percent shooting clip while forcing 13 turnovers with 10 steals defensively. However, the Lady Vols shot 43.5 percent with 10 threes to the seven of Wofford. Tennessee won the rebounding battle 50-36. The charity stripe proved pivotal as Wofford was called for 21 fouls with Tennessee converting 15 times at the line. The Terriers kept things even on the block with four swats to match Tennessee's total of denials.
 
"I cannot tell you how proud I am of our players. I thought they showed a lot of fight and toughness," said head coach Jimmy Garrity. "We had some goals coming in, one of those being double-digit steals, and we had 10. I think early on we didn't shoot it like we normally do, but their fight and effort against a big, physical team like Tennessee was unbelievable."
 
Three Terriers reached double figures with junior Rachael Rose leading the way. Named SoCon Player of the Week earlier today, Rose picked up where she left off with 23 points to lead all scorers in the contest, stretching her double-digit scoring streak to 31 consecutive games. She added in 13 rebounds to match her career high and pace all players, giving her back-to-back double-doubles. She dished five assists and contributed five steals.
 
Freshman Maddie Heiss tallied 14 points with a career-high four steals on her birthday. She added three boards, two assists and a block. Senior Annabelle Schultz rounds out the double-digit scorers with 11 points. She tallied four boards and an assist.
 
Freshman Vitolia Tuilave recorded six points and seven rebounds while adding in two blocks. Evangelia Paulk, another freshman, tallied five points and four boards. Sophomore Indiya Clarke added four points with a block to round out the Wofford scorers. Though scoreless, freshman Sara Deidda dished a pair of assists.
 
"Every single one of us had the same mindset of coming in and hanging with them and showing we belong and trying to be more physical than them," said Rose. "I'm really proud of the way we played, and I'm proud of the heart that the freshmen showed. We had a fearless mentality coming in, and I think we did well with that."
 
Tennessee was quick to score out of the gates, putting home a layup just 11 seconds into the contest. Wofford would respond shortly thereafter and push back hard, as Evangelia Paulk tied the game before Rachael Rose gave Wofford the lead with 7:54 on the clock. Thought the Lady Vols went on a 7-point run, the Terriers stayed resilient with a Maddie Heiss three to cut the margin to two, 9-7, with 3:04 to play. Just under a minute later, Indiya Clarke drew a foul and converted both free throws to tie the game once more. The Lady Vols would respond, but Annabelle Schultz did the same with a paint score to tie the game at 11-all with 55 seconds left. But Tennessee claimed the final five points of the frame to lead 16-11 after 10 minutes of action.
 
The Lady Vols stretched the margin to nine to open the second quarter, but Rachael Rose and Vitolia Tuilave put home buckets to cut it back down to five. However, a 10-point run for the Lady Vols made the score 30-15 with 5:03 on the clock. But undeterred, Maddie Heiss popped a trey before Tuilave scored once more. After some more Tennessee points, Heiss and Rose ended the frame with a three and paint score, respectively, to make it a 10-point affair at the break. Tennessee led 35-25 at halftime.
 
The Terriers came out of the break looking to fight back, getting to the charity stripe twice in the opening minute with a couple of conversions. But Tennessee responded with a three and a layup. After a Rachael Rose bucket, the Lady Vols went on an 8-2 run before Maddie Heiss nailed a triple to precede a Rose swipe and score. The teams continued to trade blows, and Annabelle Schultz put home a three with just under a minute left to cut the score to 59-43. However, a trip to the free throw line gave Tennessee two more points to make the score 61-43 at the end of the third.
 
The Terriers kept pushing to begin the fourth, as Rachael Rose scored before Annabelle Schultz hit another three. But Tennessee broke those scores up with four points in the middle. Back-to-back scores by Evangelia Paulk and Rose made it a 16-point (70-54) margin again, but the Lady Vols hit a three in response. However, Indiya Clarke punched back with a paint score. The Terriers kept battling, tallying 20 points in the fourth quarter, but Tennessee stayed in stride with 24 points on its own end. Schultz would score the game's final points with a three-ball with 1:02 on the clock, but the final score favored Tennessee at 85-63.
 
"We wanted to put up a fight, and we did," said Maddie Heiss. "I'm super proud of all of us for how we played today."
 
After a break for the holidays, the Terriers will return to action on Saturday, December 30, at Georgia. The contest wraps up Wofford's three-game road stint. Tip-off in Athens is set for 12:00 p.m.