CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Wofford women's basketball team closed out its regular season slate with a hard-fought effort inside McKenzie Arena Saturday afternoon, but the Terriers were unable to best Chattanooga, falling 69-61. The Terriers end the regular season at 16-11 (8-6 SoCon) as the Mocs improve to 14-13 (9-5 SoCon).

Chattanooga outshot Wofford on the day, posting a 46.4 percent clip (26-of-56) to Wofford's 29.9 percent mark (20-of-67). Both teams made nine threes. The Terriers owned the glass, 46-29, and held a 21-4 offensive rebounding advantage. Wofford secured a season-high 24 second chance points while holding the Mocs to just three.
 
Three Terriers reached double figures, led by Molly Masingale with 19 points. The freshman added six rebounds with a pair of assists. Masingale buried five three-pointers in the contest, a career high. Evangelia Paulk turned in another double-double with 11 points and 12 boards, her eighth of the campaign. It lifts her career total to 13, tying teammate Rachael Rose for third most in program history. Paulk added two steals to lift her season total to 92, just five away from the program record. Maddie Heiss rounds out the trio with 11 points, and she notched four boards.
 
Queen Ikhiuwu posted seven points with five rebounds, and Libby Privett added six points and rebounds. Mia Flor secured seven boards.
 
Chattanooga opened with the first four points of the game, but Maddie Heiss and Evangelia Paulk scored to tie the contest. Queen Ikhiuwu popped a three for the lead, and Heiss scored for a 9-4 lead. Heiss added a three later for a 13-7 edge, but the Mocs got hot with their own three to spark a seven-point run to end the quarter. Wofford trailed just 14-13 after 10 minutes.
 
With five points to open the second, the Moc run stretched to 12 points. Toni Warren scored to break it, and the squads proceeded to trade buckets. Molly Masingale put home back-to-back scores to tie the affair, but the Mocs responded with a three. A late Chattanooga score made the margin six, but Ikhiuwu scored down low in the final minute-and-a-half to shave to deficit to 28-24 entering the break.
 
The Mocs opened the third with a three, but Paulk scored in response. The squads began to go blow-for-blow until a seven-point Moc run created some separation with Chattanooga ahead 44-32. Masingale buried a three to keep Wofford in striking distance, and after a Chattanooga layup the freshman hit from distance once more. The Mocs notched five points, but Paulk hit her own three. A Moc layup late was nixed by a pair of Warren free throws to make the margin 53-43 entering the final frame.
 
After Chattanooga free throws, the Wofford comeback push began with a Mia Flor put-back score. A Moc three was followed by another Masingale triple. After trading scores once more, the Mocs notched three points from the stripe before Privett put home a pair herself. A five-point swing provided Chattanooga a 68-52 lead with 2:33 to go, and both offenses went quite for a little over a minute. As the clock ticked beneath one minute to play, Maddie Heiss buried a three, and Masingale followed quickly with her own, pulling Wofford with 10 points (68-58) with 21 seconds left. However, time had run too thin. Despite another Masingale three with 11 seconds left, the Terrier comeback effort came up just short as the Mocs won 69-61.
 
Wofford now sets its sights on the Southern Conference Tournament next weekend. The Terriers are the No. 4 seed for the event and will open up against No. 5 seeded Samford on Thursday, March 6. The contest will be the fourth of the day as is scheduled for a 5:45 p.m. tip-off in Asheville, North Carolina, at the Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville.