BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The Wofford women's basketball used a strong second half to earn a road win over Gardner-Webb on Thursday night at Paul Porter Arena. The Terriers had a 10-0 run to start the game and led by six points at the half. After the Runnin' Bulldogs cut the lead to one point with five minutes left in the third quarter, Wofford responded by going on a 26-8 run over the next ten minutes to put the game out of reach.
 
The Terriers improve to 3-5 while Gardner-Webb is 2-9 on the season. Wofford closed the night shooting 19-of-44 (43.2%) from the field while knocking down eight threes on 20 attempts. The Terriers were 12-of-18 from the charity stripe. Gardner-Webb shot 15-of-52 (28.8%) from the field and made just two deep balls on 17 attempts. From the free throw line, the Runnin' Bulldogs were 9-of-14
 
"This is a really tough place to play since it is small, loud, and the fans are on top of you," said head coach Jimmy Garrity. "I thought we did a really good job today of closing out quarters, especially in the third and fourth quarters. They are a scrappy defensive team and we knew we had to keep our turnovers down. They were winning the rebounding battle early but we came back and won that. I am just really proud of the team effort and sharing the ball."
 
Wofford gained the edge on the glass, outrebounding Gardner-Webb 35-31, including 17 offensive boards. The Runnin' Bulldogs had a slight advantage in the paint, scoring 22 points compared to 12 for the Terriers. Each team had 16 turnovers.
 
Toni Warren led the team with 13 points, followed by Maddie Heiss with 12 and Elli Porter with 11. Gabby Mundy and Queen Ikhiuwu both had a team-high seven rebounds. Mundy also led the team with a career-high eight assists, while Ikhiuwu had three blocks.
 
"I just trusted my teammates and we all moved the ball around pretty well," said Toni Warren. "We just got open shots, and they went in, because we shot it with confidence. I think we played really good defense. We locked in on what we worked on in practice, getting heavy gap, guarding the three, and I think that really helped us tonight."
 
Wofford jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead and forced a Gardner-Webb timeout just three minutes into play. Maddie Heiss hit a three-pointer for a 10-0 advantage. The Runnin' Bulldogs got on the board with 4:40 on the clock, but the Terriers answered with back-to-back buckets from Toni Warren for a 14-4 lead. At the end of the first quarter, the Terriers held a 16-7 advantage
 
To open the second quarter, the Runnin' Bulldogs had a pair of baskets. Toni Warren and Elli Porter each added three pointers for a 22-11 lead before Gardner-Webb scored four straight points. Wofford answered with the next four points to push the lead to 26-15. Gardner-Webb had a 5-0 run to end the first half as they cut the score to 26-20 at the break. The Terriers were 11-of-24 (46%) from the floor, and the Runnin' Bulldogs hit 9-of-27 (33%) in the opening half.
 
Gardner-Webb extended the run with a bucket to start the third quarter, but Gabby Mundy hit a three for a 29-22 score. The Runnin' Bulldogs answered with their first three-pointer of the game to cut the margin to four points. After cutting the margin to one point, Elli Porter had a three for a 33-29 score with five minutes to play. The teams traded three pointers and with two minutes left in the quarter, it was a 35-32 game. Wofford closed out the frame by hitting five-of-six free throw attempts to push the lead to 40-32.
 
A three by Elli Porter started the fourth quarter as Wofford made it an 8-0 run. After trading baskets and each team adding a pair of free throws, Elli Porter found Queen Ikhiuwu all alone under the hoop as the Terriers were up 49-36 with six minutes left. Maddie Heiss added a three pointer and a pair of free throws by Toni Warren gave Wofford a 54-36 lead. The Terriers would lead by as many as 19 points with three minutes remaining, and after only free throws for the remainder of the game, the final score was 58-41.
 
Wofford returns home to take on Charleston Southern on Saturday, December 6 at 1:00 p.m. Saturday's match-up with Charleston Southern will serve as game one of a doubleheader, with the men taking on Elon at 4:00 p.m.