COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Wofford women's basketball team battled hard Sunday afternoon inside Colonial Life Arena against the reigning national champion, but the No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 93-47 win. The Terriers drop to 6-5 as the Gamecocks improve to 12-1.
 
South Carolina outshot Wofford 45.0 percent to 21.1 percent. The Gamecocks made three more threes, 10-7. The Terriers were perfect at the charity stripe, converting all 10 attempts. South Carolina used its size advantage to win the boards, 57-41, but Wofford kept the offensive glass close with 19 offensive boards to the 21 of South Carolina.
 
"I was really happy and proud of the intensity and the effort that our team played with," said head coach Jimmy Garrity. "We did some good things. We won the third quarter, but our live-ball turnovers hurt us all game long. It's hard to match them on the boards; they're just so strong and big, but our 19 offensive rebounds were a bright spot. They're going to contend again for the national title. One thing that makes you proud is when the opposing team tells you how hard you played, and coach (Dawn) Staley reminded me of that at halfcourt postgame. That was nice to hear because at the end of the day, we need to play hard and good things will happen."
 
Rachael Rose paced the Terriers with 20 points, her 40^th career 20-point outing. She added eight boards and was a perfect 7-of-7 at the free throw line. Helen Matthews just missed double-digits with nine points and a pair of steals. Molly Masingale also netted points with a pair of assists.
 
Evangelia Paulk led the rebounding efforts with 11 boards, the most by a Terrier this season. This is Paulk's second consecutive double-digit rebounding effort and her third in the last four contests. She added five points and two steals. Maddie Heiss led the way with three assists dished. Heiss tallied a block, and Mia Flor contributed a career-high two denials.
 
South Carolina opened the scoring with a three-pointer 51 seconds into the game. The Gamecocks scored the first seven points before Rachael Rose put Wofford on the board at the 6:19 mark with a trey. After seven more Gamecock points, Rose again struck from distance, and Molly Masingale added her own three-ball after a Gamecock layup. South Carolina closed the opening quarter with an and-one play, but the Terriers trailed by only eight points, 19-11.
 
Masingale brought the margin down to five with another three just 13 seconds into the second quarter. However, South Carolina responded with the next 17 points to pull ahead 36-14. Rose knocked down a trio of free throws after a foul on a three-point shot, and she converted from distance unabetted a couple minutes later. But the Gamecocks closed the half on a 7-2 run to lead 46-22.
 
Wofford opened the scoring out of the break with a Mia Flor paint bucket a minute-and-a-half into the half. After back-to-back Gamecock scores, Rose converted inside as Wofford continued to fight. Despite two more South Carolina scores, Maddie Heiss swiped a steal, which led to a Helen Matthews three-pointer. Matthews converted again for two, and Heiss added her own make. However, the Gamecocks had a three in response. Evangelia Paulk would later convert her own trey, and after a South Carolina lay-in, Masingale survived contact for a bucket and converted her foul shot for three the old-fashioned way. Rose closed the quarter with a pair of free throws as the Terriers won the third frame 19-18 but trailed 64-41 entering the final stanza.
 
After a pair of South Carolina scores to open the fourth quarter, Matthews converted in the paint before Rose again knocked down a pair at the line. The Gamecocks hit a three, and Rose notched a layup. However, that would be Wofford's final points as South Carolina hit a groove and closed the game from there to win 93-47.
 
After Wofford's best efforts to close out a four-game road stint, the Terriers return home for their first contest of 2025 on Thursday, January 2. Wofford welcomes Erskine to Spartanburg for a 6:00 p.m. tip-off inside Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.