SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford women's basketball team rang in the new year in style by dispatching Erskine 107-35 Thursday night inside Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. With numerous career-best and record performances, the Terriers improve to 7-5 on the season as Erskine remains 2-8 with the game an exhibition for the Division II Flying Fleet.
"We were really just ready to play at home," said freshman
Molly Masingale of the first home contest in almost a month. "We just wanted to set the tone going into conference play and starting off this new year."
Wofford utilized a strong offensive effort, shooting 46.6 percent overall (41-of-88) with a 37.5 percent three-point mark that came from 15 threes in 40 attempts. Those made threes tie the program single-game record, and both the overall shot attempts and three-point attempts are the most in program history. The Terriers held Erskine to 23.1 percent (12-of-52) with just a single made triple. Wofford pulled down 52 boards to Erskine's 33. The Terriers tallied 27 assists, tied for third most in a game in program history and the most since 27 in 2018 against Warren Wilson.
The Terrier defense was stifling, forcing 37 turnovers with 22 steals, tied for fifth most in a game in program history. Those giveaways led to 56 points off turnovers for the Terriers with 34 via fast break. With 24 offensive rebounds, the Terriers notched 27 second chance points. Five players combined for seven blocks, a season high. Depth was on display as the Terriers netted a season-high mark for bench points with 71 coming from non-starters.
The trio of Terrier freshmen led the way tonight with all three reaching 20 points for the first time in each of their careers.
Madi Hawk paced the team with 26 points, a season high for any Terrier. She shot 8-of-15 overall with six threes, two short of the program record.
Molly Masingale netted 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting with a 4-of-5 three-point clip. Masingale added 10 rebounds for her first-career double-double. Those boards were a career high, as were her five assists, four steals, and two blocks.
Toni Warren posted 20 points on 10-of-19 shooting with eight boards and three assists.
"It's the encouragement of my teammates," said Hawk of her career night. "They always tell me to keep shooting the ball, even if I'm missing. I had a rough first half, but I just listened to them and kept shooting. It's the encouragement from them; they make me the player I am."
"It's definitely special because all three of us are pretty close," said Warren of the trio all reaching 20 points. "Getting it for myself was good. I just love the support from my teammates."
Not to be outdone,
Maddie Heiss (15) and
Helen Matthews (11) joined them in double figures to mark a quintet of Terriers to reach the threshold.
Mia Flor added six points with eight boards, and
Queen Ikhiuwu posted two points with four rebounds and two denials.
Evangelia Paulk recorded four points to round out the scoring, but she was truly outstanding on defense. The sophomore recorded a new single-game program record for steals with 13 swipes, besting the prior mark of 12 by Rachel Brittenham against Western Carolina in 2011. She is only the third Terrier to ever reach double-digit steals in a game. Paulk flirted with an unorthodox triple-double by posting six assists and six rebounds. Those helpers are a career high, but she did not lead the team as
Rachael Rose passed seven assists with five boards.
"This game was super important for us. We knew we were capable of getting a lot of steals on the defensive end, but I was able to trust my teammates to have my back," said Paulk of her record night. "That's the most important part of a program, and establishing that trust with my teammates was the biggest thing."
Erskine won the tip, but just 25 seconds into the game
Evangelia Paulk set a tone for the night with a steal. This led to Paulk posting the game's first points with a layup, and
Helen Matthews followed with a three-pointer on the following possession, also born from a Paulk swipe. Wofford netted the first 16 points of the contest with Erskine held off the board until the 6:03 mark. After the Flying Fleet scored, the Terriers embarked on another run as Paulk again played thief, leading to a
Toni Warren bucket. The next 18 points belonged to the Terriers. With 39 seconds to go, Erskine added another score, but
Molly Masingale popped a three, and she picked up a steal and put home the fastbreak bucket to punctuate a 39-4 first quarter. Wofford shot 57.1 percent in the opening frame with a total of 11 steals. Thirty of the 39 points came from turnovers.
The Flying Fleet posted four points in the opening three minutes of quarter two, but
Maddie Heiss owned the first five points for Wofford with a mid-range score and three-pointer.
Helen Matthews added a three before
Madi Hawk sank one of her own.
Toni Warren put home a jumper, and a Paulk steal led to another Warren bucket. The Fleet tallied an and-one to close the half, but the Terriers remained ahead 54-13 at the break.
To open the second half, the youngsters got to work as Warren posted a jumper, and Hawk put home a score off another Paulk swipe. Erskine notched the next six points, its longest run of the night, but Hawk closed that with a three-ball and layup. Erskine secured five points, but Paulk again played pest on defense to lead to a Masingale lay-in, and then Paulk struck once more, finishing this one off herself. Though Erskine put home a free throw in the final 30 seconds of the third quarter, Hawk buried a trey with 15 seconds left to provide a 72-25 advantage with a quarter to go. The freshmen powered Wofford's third quarter with 16 of the 18 points belonging to the trio of Hawk, Masingale, and Warren. The sophomore Paulk owned the only two non-freshman points.
The youth movement carried into the final frame as Masingale put forth a three followed by a put-back bucket from Warren. Heiss secured a three-point play with 6:25 on the clock to push the score to 82-27. With another trey from Masingale at the 5:50 mark, the final 25 Terrier points belonged to the freshman trio. Hawk would help Wofford reach the century mark with back-to-back triples at the two-minute mark. In the final minute, Warren punctuated the contest with a put-back, marking Wofford's 107-35 victory over Erskine.
After opening 2025 with a triumph, the Terriers will continue their five-game homestand with the non-conference finale on Saturday. Wofford welcomes King (Tenn.) to Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium with tip-off set for 2:00 p.m.
