SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford women's basketball team felt a late push from the UNCG Spartans Saturday afternoon in the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, but the Terriers held firm for the 66-60 victory. With the win, Wofford improves to 15-8 and 7-2 in the SoCon while UNCG drops to 15-9 (4-5 SoCon).
 
"That was a big win. I'm really happy and proud of our players," said head coach Jimmy Garrity. "UNCG is such a good team and well-coached. They play so hard. For us to build that lead, we needed it down the stretch. Give UNCG credit for coming back in the fourth quarter and making us earn it down the stretch.
 
"It took every person on that bench, every player that played to keep our poise, and we made enough plays down the stretch," added Garrity of the team's tenacity late. "Annabelle's shot down the stretch, that little floater she hit – it was right on time because we really needed it. And then we got to the free throw line, and we were pretty good from there to close it out."
 
The game served as Wofford's annual Pink Game and took place in front of a lively crowd of 1,286. It marked back-to-back home games with an attendance over 1,000.
 
"We talked about it before the game, we've got to be really grateful and play for those on our team who can't play right now and play for those around who can't play," said Annabelle Schultz of the win in the ever-meaningful Pink Game. "We had to just be really grateful and be together, and everything will be okay."
 
Both teams shot over 40 percent, as Wofford owned a 40.7 percent clip with UNCG at 43.1 percent, but the three-point shooting featured a wide disparity. The Terriers knocked down eight treys at a 36.4 percent rate, but the Spartans were held to only two threes on 18 attempts, an 11.1 percent clip. UNCG won the glass but marginally, 37-34, and Wofford held an advantage in the turnover battle, committing 10 while forcing 11. The Terrier defense was stout with five steals and 18 points off turnovers. On top of controlling the ball, Wofford dished 13 assists.
 
"We were really prepared," said Rachael Rose of the team's defensive efforts. "I thought we had really good practices leading up to this game. Everybody came out and played their role. UNCG is really big and a really good rebounding team, so I thought we did really well on the boards, and I'm really proud of our effort."
 
It was another balanced scoring effort with three Terriers in double figures, led by Rachael Rose with 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting, her sixth-straight game scoring over 20. It was also her 42^nd game in a row with double-digit points. Honored before the game with a commemorative ball for her 500^th rebound, achieved last Thursday, Rose added eight more to her ledger today while also distributing seven assists to fall just short of another triple-double.
 
Annabelle Schultz scored 12 points and fell just shy of a double-double with eight boards. She also dished four assists and swiped a team-high three steals. Indiya Clarke put forth 11 points for her third consecutive effort in double figures, also claiming four rebounds.
 
Maddie Heiss was close to double-digits herself with seven points, adding a pair of rebounds. Sara Deidda posted five points with two boards and an assist. Evangelia Paulk and Vitolia Tuilave round out the Wofford scoring with two points each. Paulk notched three rebounds, and Tuilave added two boards with a block.
 
UNCG scored first with a layup, but Rachael Rose put Wofford ahead quickly thereafter with a three. The teams traded blows a few times from there, as an eight-point Wofford run pushed the Terriers in front 16-10 with 2:33 remaining in the opening quarter. However, UNCG began to chip away, but Rose ended the frame with a buzzer-beating jumper to give Wofford an 18-15 edge going into quarter two.
 
The second quarter again started out back-and-forth, and UNCG pulled level with a three at the 6:16 mark, but Annabelle Schultz responded shortly thereafter with her own trey to reclaim the Wofford lead. Vitolia Tuilave would add a jumper, and Indiya Clarke put forth her own three to give the Terriers an eight-point advantage (32-24) at the 3:57 mark. A Maddie Heiss three with just under a minute-and-a-half to go pushed the Terrier lead to double-digits at 11, but a Spartan score late would make the Wofford lead 37-28 entering the halftime break.
 
The defenses took charge early in the third quarter with the first score not coming until the 8:56 mark by UNCG, and Wofford would respond at the 8:15 mark with a Rachael Rose jumper after a Vitolia Tuilave block. That kicked off an eight-point swing for the Terriers, punctuated by a Maddie Heiss triple. After a pair of UNCG free throws, Annabelle Schultz knocked down a trey, and the Wofford lead stood at 16 points (48-32) with 3:16 on the clock. The Terriers kept pushing and ended the frame up 54-36 after outscoring the Spartans 17-8.
 
A Sara Deidda trey to open the fourth created a 21-point advantage for the Terriers with all the momentum seemingly on Wofford's side. But UNCG would tack on some points before another Deidda bucket, and the Spartans found the rhythm they needed for a comeback attempt with a 10-point run. A Rachael Rose free throw ended the swing at the 3:45 mark, but the Terrier lead was trimmed to 60-52. A UNCG bucket was met with a pair of Annabelle Schultz foul shots, and the sides traded blows once more. UNCG would cut the margin down to four (64-60) with 15 seconds left, but Rose clutched up by knocking down both of her free throws to extend the lead to six. The Spartans could not connect on their ensuing three-point attempt, and the game would conclude with Wofford holding firm for the 66-60 victory.
 
"UNCG is a really good team. They're really scrappy; they get after it on defense, so we knew we just had to stay together down the stretch," said Schultz of the team's grit late. "And that's exactly what we did. We made enough plays to end it. We made enough in the first three quarters to give us a little bit of a buffer there, and we couldn't have asked for anything better."
 
The Terriers will hit the road next week for the first of three-straight games away from Spartanburg. Wofford travels down I-85 on Thursday, February 15, for a match-up against the rival Furman Paladins. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. inside Timmons Arena.