The women’s basketball program wrapped up their season on Mar. 17 after securing an auto-bid to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). The invitation to the WNIT served as the first postseason appearance for Wofford women’s hoops since their move to NCAA Division I in 1995.

While the Terriers fell to the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders 86-56 in the first round, the benchmark for the program was notable, given the Terriers’ recent success under Head Coach Jimmy Garrity. A 2nd overall finish in the Southern Conference for the 2021-22 regular season came one year after reaching the SoCon tournament championship game for the first time in program history. The team ended the season with a 17-14 record, and have not had a losing season since the 2017-18 season. 

“Really super proud of our players, I mean just an unbelievable year that we had, to do the things that we did: finishing second in a league that is really good top to bottom, great coaches in our league, great players,” Garrity said following a 64-59 loss to Furman that eliminated the Terriers from the SoCon tournament.

One of the Terriers’ primary strengths during the 2021-22 campaign was the ability to rely on a deep bench that provided a bevy of reliable players who could score the ball and prevent defensive scouting reports from honing in on any one player. Over the course of the team’s 31 games, nine players played in 26 or more contests, and seven players averaged over 18.4 minutes per game.  

Throughout the season, the team relied on veteran leadership from Jackie Carman ‘22, Lilly Hatton ‘23, Niyah Lutz ‘22 and Alexis Tomlin ‘22, while receiving significant contributions from newcomers Reagan Rapert ‘25 and Sydnee Richetto ‘25. Annabelle Schultz ‘24, Helen Matthews ‘24 and Abbey Crawford ‘24 also returned from last year’s squad and continued as mainstays in the rotation. 

Although Carman was the only player to average double digit scoring at 12.4 ppg, the rest of the starting lineup – Hatton, Lutz, Tomlin and Rapert – averaged between 8.5 and 9.7 ppg, and Schultz, Matthews and Richetto often provided offensive sparks off the bench. 

Tomlin earned first-team all-tournament honors and Carman was nominated to the second-team all-tournament for their respective performances in Wofford’s two SoCon tournament games: a 66-54 win against No. 7 seed East Tennessee State and a heartbreaking 64-59 loss to archrival and No. 3 seed Furman in the tourney semifinals. 

Carman also earned her first-ever all-conference nomination, collecting first-team awards, and Hatton was named to second team all-conference in back-to-back seasons. Rapert was named to the all-freshman and all-defensive team, averaging 1.2 steals per game. 

“She is a warrior, she battles – she can barely walk right now, but you’d never know it,” Garrity said of Rapert after the Furman game. “She’s one of the toughest players I’ve ever coached. She guards hard, she gets up in you…she’s done a phenomenal job.”

While the team took the loss to Furman hard, Garrity stressed to them that they stand for more than just Wofford basketball, “I reminded them they are a source of pride for our community and our college, and really appreciate who they are as people.”