SPARTANBURG, S.C. – In front of a raucous crowd in the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, the Wofford women's basketball team topped the rival Furman Paladins, 69-51, Saturday afternoon behind a balanced effort headlined by Rachael Rose's triple-double and Evangelia Paulk's double-double, both historic in their own rights. Wofford improves to 10-7 (2-1 SoCon) with the triumph, and Furman falls to 11-8 (1-2 SoCon).
 
The victory marks Wofford's third in a row in the series against Furman after sweeping the regular-season series last season, the longest win streak over the Paladins in the history of the program. The win came in front of a season-high attendance of 1,049.
 
"First of all, our crowd was fantastic," said head coach Jimmy Garrity. "It was alumni weekend, too, so we had a bunch of alumni back for the game… I think they had a great experience, and it's important for our players to get to know them. And Furman is really good. They are really talented. They're big, strong and fast… But I was really proud of our second-half rebounding effort. In the first half we gave up 13 offensive boards, and then the entire second half we only gave up two. At the end of the day, I'm just super proud of our players. They compete and play hard, and we kept the main thing the main thing."
 
"It was so fun just playing in this environment," said Rachael Rose of the crowd's impact. "If we felt like we were getting down, the crowd helped us stay up and into it. And the alumni came back, so we really wanted to get a win for them because they paved the way for us to be here."
 
Wofford shot 34.8 percent on the afternoon with a three-point clip of 25.0 percent. While Furman's 30.6 percent clip was not too far behind, the Paladins struggled from distance with a 2-of-26 clip. Furman came into the game top 20 in the nation in rebounding and despite claiming 44 rebounds, the Terriers held their own on the boards with 39. Wofford's defense proved the difference in the contest as the Terriers forced 21 turnovers for 20 extra points while committing only 10 giveaways and allowing Furman only three extra points. The Terriers notched 10 steals and four blocks.
 
"The key mainly was just giving them one shot," said Evangelia Paulk of the team's defensive success. "Our main thing was getting rebounds and not letting them get second-chance shots because they score a lot in second-chance opportunities. So getting them off the glass was our big thing."
 
Rachael Rose made history with her performance, totaling 19 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists for the first triple-double in program history. Fittingly, it came on the program's alumni reunion day with past Terriers dating back to the inaugural 1980-81 squad in attendance. Rose's rebounds and assists are both new career highs, and her helpers clock in tied for fifth most in a single game in program history. Rose also added in a pair of steals and a career-best two blocks.
 
"I just think it's really good for our program," said Rose of her historic outing. "Records are meant to be broken, and honestly, it's to my teammates. They made shots when I passed them the ball, and they boxed out so I could run in and get rebounds. So this was a full team win."
 
Not to be outdone, Evangelia Paulk made some history of her own with a stellar performance. The freshman tallied a career-high 18 points and 10 boards for a double-double, her fourth of the campaign. She is now tied for the program's single-season record by a freshman, matching the four of Elizabeth Wells in the 1995-96 season, Wofford's first at the Division I level. Paulk added a career-high five steals with a block.
 
Two other Terriers reached double-digits to make four total. Annabelle Schultz recorded 13 points with three steals and three rebounds. Indiya Clarke added 12 points with six rebounds.
 
"We had other people step up," said Garrity of the balanced scoring efforts. "We had four in double figures. Evangelia was fantastic on the glass and scoring the ball when she needed to. Indiya came in and gave us big minutes. Annabelle went down with an injury, came back in, toughed it out and knocked down a couple of big shots and two big free throws. All in all, we had some great individual efforts, but this is a team win. So I'm just really proud of them."
 
Maddie Heiss tallied four points with three boards, and Sara Deidda rounds out the Terrier scoring with three points. Vitolia Tuilave added in a block.
 
Wofford came out of the gates hot, winning the opening tip with Evangelia Paulk immediately burying a triple 16 seconds into the contest. Less than a minute later, Paulk again took charge with a steal and layup on the other end for Wofford's first five points. Despite a Furman score, Indiya Clarke followed with a trey of her own. The teams traded points from there, including each netting a score in the final 35 seconds. But it was Wofford who held a slight advantage, 14-13, after 10 minutes of action.
 
Paulk again stepped up to open the second quarter, putting home a layup following yet another steal. But Furman used a five-point run to claim its first lead at 18-16 with 8:55 on the clock. But a couple minutes later, Clarke again hit from distance to flip the score. The teams traded the lead twice more from there, with Rachael Rose's layup at the 4:56 mark putting Wofford back up. Furman pulled level again at 22-22, but Rose again converted inside to put Wofford ahead for good at the 4:05 mark. Bur Furman stayed close, keeping the margin within five for the majority of the remainder of the half. A Paulk three with a minute to go gave the Terriers a seven-point lead, but Furman put home a last-second jumper to cut the score to 34-29 entering the halftime break.
 
Both defenses started off stout with Furman breaking the scoring drought a minute-and-a-half into the second half. But Annabelle Schultz responded quickly with a bucket of her own. The Paladins played the Terriers close, pulling within two points (36-34) at the 6:50 mark, but Paulk went back outside for a trey, sparking a seven-point run for a nine-point (43-34) advantage. The teams traded blows from there, with Maddie Heiss putting home a score with just under 30 seconds to go, but a pair of free throws in the final five seconds made it a six-point game, 47-41, entering the final frame.
 
Furman scored first in the fourth before Rachael Rose put in a layup, but the Paladins again scored in kind to pull within four points, 49-45, with 7:44 to go. But when Rose put home a jumper at the 7:28 mark, it would be all Wofford for the next five minutes with a 17-point Terrier run, matching the biggest scoring run of the season for Wofford. Rose powered the run, totaling eight points, two assists, two steals, six rebounds, a block and a charge drawn all in those five minutes. After Rose kicked it off, Indiya Clarke scored inside before a pair of Rose free throws. Annabelle Schultz knocked down a three, and Rose again converted multiple times at the charity stripe. Schultz knocked down a pair at the free throw line, and the run concluded with a jumper by Paulk. When the dust settled, Wofford led by 21 points, 66-45, with 2:40 on the clock. Furman would trim into the margin a little in the waning minutes, but it was Wofford who prevailed, 69-51.
 
The Terriers remain home next weekend for a pair of contests against Mercer and Samford. First, the Bears come to town for a 6:00 p.m. tip-off on Thursday, January 25. Then, Wofford battles the Bulldogs two days later at 2:00 p.m. inside Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.