SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Tied at 12 after a quarter of play, the Wofford women's basketball team ramped the intensity up a notch to outscore UNCG 20-8 in the second quarter en route to a 62-39 triumph in the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium Thursday night. Wofford opens SoCon play at 2-0 and improves to 11-6 on the season. The Spartans fall to 10-5 overall and suffer their first league loss for a 2-1 record.
 
Wofford remains undefeated at home this season with now nine-straight wins in Spartanburg. The Terriers are one home victory shy of matching their longest home winning streak inside the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. The Terriers have opened SoCon play 2-0 for the first time since the 2021-22 season and for the third time in the past five campaigns.
 
With the Terriers boasting the third-best scoring offense in the SoCon and UNCG owning the league's best scoring defense, something had to give in the heavyweight bout. Wofford prevailed with a 36.1 percent shooting clip (22-of-61) while holding the Spartans to 24.6 percent (14-of-57). The free throw line was pivotal as Wofford knocked down 14-of-17 at the stripe with UNCG mustering a 7-of-16 clip. Wofford is just the fourth team to deposit over 60 points against the Spartans this season and the first since No. 14 North Carolina netted 80 on December 11.
 
"UNCG is so talented. They're deep, athletic, strong, and they guard really hard," said head coach Jimmy Garrity. "Trina (Patterson) is an unbelievable coach, and their coaching staff does a great job of preparing them… I can't tell you how proud I am of our defensive effort to hold that team to 39 points. We thought it was going to come down to rebounding, and that's a great rebounding team. For them to have only nine offensive rebounds and us to have 12 offensive, 49 total – that's probably one of our highest totals for the year against a really good team."
 
Wofford won the boards 49-37 with 12 offensive rebounds. This aided in 15 Terrier second chance points. Each of the eight Terriers to play more than four minutes grabbed at least four rebounds. Both teams protected the ball well with Wofford committing seven turnovers against UNCG's six giveaways.
 
"We just emphasized being tough," said freshman Molly Masingale of the team's success on the glass. "I think rebounding is all effort, and we gave 100 percent effort on the boards."
 
Molly Masingale and Maddie Heiss led the offensive charge with 19 and 14 points, respectively. Masingale added in six rebounds with Heiss contributing four boards, a block, and a team-high two assists.  
 
Reigning SoCon Player of the Week Evangelia Paulk was just shy of double figures with nine points, but she also posted seven rebounds and two steals, marking her fifth consecutive game with multiple swipes. Helen Matthews netted six points with six boards. Toni Warren had four points and four rebounds, and Madi Hawk posted three points with one rebound. Libby Privett's career-high eight boards led the team, and she added three points. Mia Flor tallied five rebounds with Queen Ikhiuwu securing four, and each posted two points to round out the Terrier scoring.
 
UNCG opened the scoring 11 seconds into the contest by converting one-of-two at the stripe. Maddie Heiss put home a jumper to push Wofford in front, but the Spartans responded. Wofford and UNCG traded the lead five times in the opening quarter with three total ties. UNCG pulled ahead 10-8 with five-straight points before Queen Ikhiuwu converted a pair of foul shots to level the game with just under three minutes on the clock. Evangelia Paulk put home a paint bucket to push Wofford in front, but a Spartan basket closed the quarter with the score deadlocked at 12-all.
 
Heiss opened the second frame with a three-pointer 43 seconds in, pushing Wofford ahead for a lead it would not relent. The trey sparked an 11-point run for the Terriers that Heiss closed with a two-pointer at the 6:20 mark. A three-point play pulled the Spartans back within eight, but Molly Masingale secured a rebound and went coast-to-coast for the bucket, kicking off a nine-point Terrier swing. UNCG secured the final five points of the half, but the Terriers won quarter two 20-8 to own a 32-20 halftime lead.
 
"We just emphasized our defensive efforts and getting in transition," said sophomore Maddie Heiss of the difference between the first and second quarters. "I feel that made a huge difference, and just keeping our energy up and putting our foot on the gas."
 
Carrying the energy into the second half, Paulk swiped a steal and took the ball to the basket with a foul. Not to be outdone, Masingale notched an and-one of her own just 24 seconds later. The freshman caught fire from there, depositing a layup and then a three-ball just 35 seconds later for eight-straight points all by herself. The Terrier lead stood at 23 points (43-20), but UNCG hit a groove with seven consecutive points to cut into the margin. However, Heiss connected from distance to keep the Terriers in front by 19. The teams traded free throws at the end of the quarter, and Wofford's lead stood at 48-32 entering the final frame.
 
Libby Privett's layup opened the fourth quarter, and shortly thereafter Masingale converted a pair at the stripe to get the advantage back to 20 points. UNCG secured back-to-back scores, but Masingale and Heiss each converted at the free throw line, and Madi Hawk nailed a triple off the bench. The Terrier defense notched its second single-digit quarter of the contest in holding the Spartans to seven points in the final frame, and three of those came on the game's final shot when UNCG hit from distance with 39 seconds left in the game. Wofford dribbled out the clock from there to notch an emphatic 62-39 victory over UNCG.
 
The Terriers close out their homestand on Saturday, January 18, when Western Carolina comes to town. Tip-off against the Catamounts is set for 2:00 p.m. as the first leg of a doubleheader in Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium with the men's team following against Mercer at 6:00 p.m.