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Furman Squeaks By UNC Greensboro 52-50
Jan. 2, 2005
GREENVILLE, South Carolina - Furman's Lady Paladin basketball team survived 29 turnovers and 35.3% shooting from the field Sunday at Timmons Arena to squeak by the Spartans of UNC Greensboro 52-50 in Southern Conference women's basketball action.
Furman senior Laney Harris scored nine first-half points and freshman Chrissy Phelps added eight to stake the Lady Paladins to a 34-26 lead at halftime. The Spartans forced 13 first-half Furman turnovers, and outscored the Lady Paladins 14-4 on fast breaks, but shots just 28.9% (11-of-38) from the field and 21.4% (3-of-14) from three point range.
In the second half the Spartans came out strong to tie the game at 34 on a KaLeah Latham jumper at the 16:17 mark, but Furman never gave up the lead and stretched their advantage to eight on a Chrissy Phelps three-pointer at the 5:12 mark.
An 8-2 Spartan run put the game back within reach for UNCG, but Furman's Jessica Lange made a pair of free throws at the 1:30 mark to give Furman the four point advantage, 51-47. Another Latham jumper put UNCG within two, and a made free throw made the score 51-50, but Latham missed the back end of the two shot foul and the Spartans were forced to foul Katie Roach. Roach missed the first of two free throws, but hit the second for her only point of the day, giving Furman the two-point advantage it held for the remainder of the game.
Harris paced the Lady Paladins with 13 points on the game, while Chrissy Phelps and Jessica Lange each added 11. Katie Roach and Mivvi Strickland claimed a team-best seven rebounds each, contributing to Furman's 44-36 advantage on the boards for the game.
"We are happy we won," said coach Sam Dixon. "It was a good game for us to get back and start the new year coming off the loss to UAB. We had some big plays by key people - Jessica Lange had a big play, Katie Roach got some key rebounds - and the most positive thing about this game was that we did a good job on the boards."
The Spartans were paced by Latham and Jasmine Byrd, who each totaled 13 points. Amanda Eaton dished off a team-best six assists, while Byrd claimed six steals on the day.
With the win, the Lady Paladins move to 9-3 overall and 4-1 in the Southern Conference. Furman will host Wofford at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at Timmons Arena. With the loss, the Spartans of UNCG dropped to 4-7 overall and 1-3 in the league. UNCG will host Elon on Wednesday, Jan. 5, in a 5:15 p.m. contest.
