JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Behind 16 forced turnovers and 40 rebounds, the Wofford women's basketball team went into Freedom Hall for the first time ever and walked out with a gritty 77-65 triumph over the ETSU Buccaneers Saturday afternoon. After holding firm against the Buccaneer comeback efforts, the Terriers improve to 13-8 (5-2 SoCon) while the Bucs drop to 15-7 (4-3 SoCon).
 
"In that Thursday night game at Chattanooga, I thought we did an unbelievable job of coming back, and we had our chances down the stretch. And coming into this, our mindset was just on point," said head coach Jimmy Garrity. "I thought we were tough. I thought we exhibited competitive greatness. That's what we talked about the last two days – being competitively great, and I thought they did that. And we made a lot of plays, had four people in double figures with Annabelle Schultz at eight. Evangelia with nine rebounds, seven of them offensively, was pretty special."
 
Shooting splits proved to almost be a wash, as ETSU was better overall (40.4 percent to 37.1 percent), but Wofford was better from distance (41.9 percent to 39.4 percent). However, the free throw line proved pivotal, as the Terriers knocked down 18 of their 21 foul shots while the Bucs put forth a measly 6-of-12 effort at the stripe. The Terriers utilized an overall strong defensive effort elsewhere to secure the victory, swatting three blocks to ETSU's two and winning the rebounding battle 40-38. This includes a 16-13 advantage on the offensive glass. But the biggest difference was the turnover margin, of which Wofford committed 11 while forcing 16, 13 of which were steals. Those turned into 23 extra Terrier points, Wofford's highest total of points off turnovers this season.
 
"I thought our defense was outstanding," added Garrity. "I thought we did a great job of gambling for steals, and calculated gambles so that they didn't hurt us. We had 13 steals, and that led to some transition points. And I thought down the stretch we were pretty key from the free throw line."
 
Rachael Rose tallied 24 points in the game to lead the team as one of four in double figures. She extended her double-digit scoring streak to 40 games and her 20-point streak to four in a row while reaching 1,000 points in a Terrier uniform, becoming the 19^th player in program history to reach that mark in the Old Gold and Black. With 14 rebounds, Rose notched her eighth double-double of the campaign while adding in a team-high five assists and three steals.
 
Indiya Clarke tallied 15 points in the contest, and she came up clutch at the line with an 8-of-10 free throw clip. Half of those makes came in the fourth quarter to stave off the Buccaneer comeback. Clarke also recorded one of the three Wofford blocks.
 
Evangelia Paulk tallied 13 points and narrowly missed a double-double with nine boards. Keen at keeping possessions alive, seven of Paulk's boards were on the offensive glass. She tied her career high with three triples made, and she added in five steals, also matching her career best. Paulk dished a pair of assists and tallied a block. Maddie Heiss rounds out the double-digit scorers with 12 points, adding in a career-high five rebounds.
 
"The offensive rebounding was big, especially because we need to create second chance points for ourselves," said Paulk of the rebounding efforts today. "I think a lot of our points did come from that, so having that was very important for our win."
 
Annabelle Schultz found herself knocking on the door of double figures with eight points. She added in four boards, two assists and five steals. Sara Deidda rounds out the Terrier scoring with five points, notching a rebound as well. Vitolia Tuilave contributed a pair of boards with a block.
 
ETSU won the tip and immediately hit a three, but Rachael Rose pushed back with a triple of her own, setting a tone for a first half that saw a combined 17 total made threes. Maddie Heiss scored inside to give Wofford the edge, and Evangelia Paulk connected from distance before ETSU began to fight back. The Bucs would use a three-point play of the old-fashioned kind to take a one-point lead, but a Paulk two followed by a triple from Indiya Clarke flipped the score once more. Despite a Buc score, the Terriers ended the first quarter on a seven-point run, punctuated by a trey from Paulk, to lead 22-12 after one quarter of action.
 
Annabelle Schultz opened the second quarter with a triple, pushing the run to 10 points before an ETSU three snapped it. The second quarter was the highest scoring of the game with a combined 47 points and each team reaching 20. Starting with an ETSU three at the 7:41 mark, the teams rattled off a combined six-straight triples that ended with Maddie Heiss connecting beyond the arc before following up with a jumper inside at the 5:13 mark. But the Buccaneers would piece together an eight-point run to pull within two (38-36) with 2:16 on the clock. After trading some blows, Rachael Rose delivered the final points of the half, of course from three, to give Wofford a 43-38 lead at the midpoint.
 
But the Bucs would not roll over, coming out of the break with the first six points to claim a one-point lead. However, the three-ball again proved imperative, as Rachael Rose knocked down another trey to reclaim Wofford's lead. After a free throw made it a one-point margin again, Maddie Heiss connected from afar to make the lead four. The run would stretch to 10 points in row, concluded by a trio of free throws by Sara Deidda after getting fouled on her three attempt. ETSU would claim four of the quarter's final seven points, but Annabelle Schultz's triple kept the margin at double-digits, 59-49, entering the final frame.
 
Determined to put the game away, Rachael Rose again splashed a trey before an Evangelia Paulk steal led to an Indiya Clarke paint score. The teams would trade blows with Wofford matching the Buccaneer comeback shots, but an ETSU three at the 3:18 mark sparked an eight-point run that closed the gap to six points (71-65) with 2:08 on the clock. The charity stripe would prove to be the deciding factor from there, as Indiya Clarke made a foul shot before Maddie Heiss converted both of her attempts. A Rose rebound off a Buc miss led to a made free throw, and a Rose steal set up two more makes for the game's final points. With a stout defensive stand in the final two minutes, Wofford's late free throws put away a 77-65 triumph over ETSU.
 
"I'm really proud of us. We struggled with their press last year; we knew it was going to be something we needed to overcome today, and I think that at the end of the day we kept our cool," said Indiya Clarke of holding firm late. "Even if there was a bad execution, we came through on the other side and got to the free throw line, which was really important."
 
After a pair of road contests, the Terriers will return home next week for two games in Spartanburg. First, Western Carolina comes to town on Thursday, February 8 with a special tip-off time of 11:00 a.m. for Education Day. Two days later, UNCG enters Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium for a 2:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon tip-off. The match-up against the Spartans will be Wofford's annual pink game. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+ and will take place inside the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.