 |  |
UTC Escapes with 63-56 Win Over Furman
Jan. 22, 2005
GREENVILLE, SC - The Furman bench outscored the Chattanooga bench 23-4 in Southern Conference women's basketball action on Saturday, but UTC used strong rebounding and intense defense to post a 63-56 come-from-behind victory in Timmons Arena.
The matchup, which pitted SoCon No. 1 UTC against No. 2 Furman promised excitement and the game delivered with six lead changes, 40 minutes of solid defense by both teams, and a crowd of more than 2,000.
The Mocs got off to a strong start in the first period, scoring seven unanswered points to start the game, but senior Laney Harris connected on a three-pointer at 16:55 to put the Lady Paladins on the board, and two minutes later Furman was up 10-9. A layup at 13:07 by freshman guard Laura Hall put the Mocs back on top and a pair of three-pointers by reigning SoCon player of the year Katasha Brown stretched the UTC lead to five. The Mocs held the advantage until 5:40, when a Tommi Paris jumper tied the game at 22. Furman regained the lead on a Chrissy Phelps jumper with 2:08 to go, but the Mocs scored twice and Furman managed just one bucket in the final two minutes to give UTC a 28-27 advantage at the halftime break.
It took Furman just 53 seconds to erase the Moc advantage once the second period got underway. A Katie Roach layup, followed by a Jen Nadalin bucket gave FU the three-point lead, and Furman stretched its advantage to as many as nine when Harris sank a three-pointer with 15:49 to go. Furman continued to hold the lead and was up 54-46 with 8:27 left in the game. The Mocs switched from man-to-man to zone defense, however, and the Furman offense stalled, scoring just two points in the remaining eight minutes, while UTC tallied 17.
In addition to the offensive drought over the final eight minutes, Furman suffered from a game-long disadvantage on the boards. UTC outrebounded the Lady Paladins 25-15 in the first half and 51-38 for the game. Most notably, the Mocs reigned in 19 offensive rebounds and outscored Furman 16-7 on second-chance points.
"When they switched to the zone late in the second half we were a little slow adjusting to it," said coach Sam Dixon. The zone stopped us from attacking and we didn't get the penetration we needed against it. We had some success beating them off the dribble early, but weren't able to execute that against their zone."
The Mocs were paced in the game by junior Tiffani Roberson, who was one off her career-high with 24 points. She and teammate Tiffany Patton each recorded a double-double: Roberson claimed 11 rebounds, while Patton had 12 points and 12 boards. Katasha Brown added 14 points to the UTC effort, while Laura Hall and Nicole Mattison each dished off five assists in the game.
Furman was led by Chrissy Phelps' 15 points, while Laney Harris added 13. Tommi Paris contributed eight and dished off a team-best four assists, while Princess Wells claimed two steals in the loss.
With the win, UTC improves to 15-3 overall and 10-1 in the Southern Conference, while Furman falls to 12-6 overall and 7-4 in league play. The Mocs will face Wofford Monday night at 7 p.m. in Benjamin Johnson Arena, while Furman stays home to host the Bucs of East Tennessee State in a 5 p.m. matchup.
