ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The No. 3 seed Wofford women's basketball team got a balanced scoring effort and used a key 17-0 run in the second quarter to pull away and defeat the No. 6 seed Samford 66-45 Thursday afternoon at the Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville. The Terriers improve to 17-12 (8-6 SoCon) and advance to the semifinals while Samford's season ends with a 14-16 (6-8 SoCon) record.
 
"First, Samford is really talented, and they're well-coached," said head coach Jimmy Garrity. "I thought we made some adjustments going into this game (from the last game against them), particularly in guarding ball screens. And I thought defensively we were just fantastic guarding their ball screens. To hold a team that's got scorers to 45 was just fantastic. I'm really proud of our players.
 
"The second quarter was big for us. It was tied there, and then they took a lead by four, and then we went on a 17-3 run. And that gave us a lot of confidence going into halftime and coming out. I thought we finished quarters well, so I'm just really proud."
 
The win is Wofford's first on a neutral floor over Samford, previously 0-3. The Terriers have advanced to the semifinals of the SoCon Tournament for the fourth-straight season.
 
The Wofford offense was clicking as the Terriers shot 39.6 percent in the game with a 42.9 percent mark from three. Samford was held to a 22.0 percent mark and a 2-of-24 three-point effort. The board battle was almost ever with Samford holding a slight advantage, 42-41, and both teams committed 15 turnovers. But Wofford took better advantage of miscues, securing 14 points off turnovers to Samford's nine.
 
"We take pride in our defense," said Annabelle Schultz of holding Samford to low shooting marks. "Our coaches do an excellent job getting us prepared for these games, and it's up to us to execute, so I think that's what we did."
 
Four Terriers reached double figures in the game, led by Maddie Heiss with 18 points. She was 6-of-11 from the floor with a 4-of-5 three-point clip. Heiss secured a career-high-tying six rebounds and dished three assists with a steal.
 
"This experience has definitely been exciting so far, and the mindset this team has is to take it one day at a time – go 1-0 every single day," said Heiss of her first SoCon Tournament experience.
 
Asheville native Annabelle Schultz was right behind with 16 points while adding five boards, an assist and three steals.
 
Rachael Rose tallied 12 points to extend her program-record double-digit scoring streak to 48 games in a row. Rose added five rebounds and dished five assists. She will enter tomorrow's contest needing just two helpers to set the program's single-season record. Indiya Clarke netted 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers. She added six rebounds and a block.
 
Sara Deidda recorded five points with three rebounds, and Ja'Rae Smith totaled three points with four boards. She also swiped a steal. Vitolia Tuilave rounds out the scorers with two points and a rebound. Though scoreless, Evangelia Paulk led the team with seven rebounds, six of which came in the second half.
 
The first quarter was back-and-forth with both teams trading blows. Annabelle Schultz put home the opening bucket 21 seconds into the game. After a couple of ties and lead changes, a Maddie Heiss three gave Wofford a four-point lead late in the quarter, but Samford closed the gap and tied the contest at 12 with a jumper in the closing seconds of the frame.
 
Samford added the first four points of the quarter to take its own four-point advantage, but Ja'Rae Smith drew a foul on her layup and converted the three-point play, pulling Wofford within a point. Though the Bulldogs responded with a three, Rachael Rose got to work with a layup followed by her own triple, pushing Wofford back in front and kicking off what turned into 17-point run. Heiss added back-to-back treys of her before Annabelle Schultz put home one herself. Some free throws capped the run, which tied for Wofford's largest scoring run of the season. Though the Bulldogs closed the half with a three, Wofford held a 10-point lead (32-22) at the break.
 
"We just had multiple people step up, and I thought our defense led to our offense," said Rose of the pivotal second-quarter run. "We really emphasized, in practice specifically, to run in transition, and I thought we sped them up and were able to get some easy baskets."
 
The Terriers came out of the break with the first eight points, including an Indiya Clarke three. A Schultz trey later in the frame pushed the Terrier lead to 19 points, 43-24. Samford attempted to chip away, but Wofford kept putting home answers. A Heiss triple late in the quarter made the margin 18 points, 53-35. But the Bulldogs secured the final three points of the quarter to make the score 53-38 entering the final frame.
 
Wofford continued to stay well in front in the fourth, aided by an and-one play by Clarke. Rose followed up with a jumper to extend the Wofford advantage to 19 points (59-40). Samford would add some points, but a seven-point Wofford run, capped by a Sara Deidda three, made the Terrier lead 23. The Bulldogs notched the game's final bucket, but the final score was in favor of the Terriers, 66-45.
 
Advancing to its fourth-straight semifinal round, Wofford will face No. 2 seed UNCG tomorrow afternoon for a berth in the finals. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. with the game following the other semifinal match-up between No. 1 Chattanooga and No. 4 Mercer, tipping off at 11:00 a.m.