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Lady Paladin Roundballers Down ETSU 52-49
Jan. 24, 2005
GREENVILLE, SC - East Tennessee State forward Tiffani Mayes scored 18 second-half points, but it was not enough to stop the Lady Paladins, as Furman held on for a 52-49 win over the Bucs Monday night in Timmons Arena.
"Mayes is an outstanding player," said coach Sam Dixon after the win. "You are not going to be able to control her for the whole game like we did for the first half, and I think they did some different things in the second half to try to get her shot opportunities. I also think she was much more aggressive, but I think we did a good job from start to finish in making her take tough shots."
ETSU jumped out to a 6-4 lead early in the first period, but the Lady Paladins went on a 16-0 run to hold the 20-6 advantage with 8:43 left to play. A layup by Mayes at the 7:39 mark snapped the Bucs' scoring drought, but Furman continued to put points on the board and held a 30-15 advantage at the halftime break. Mayes, the Southern Conference scoring leader, managed just four first-half points and Furman outrebounded ETSU 25-18.
The Bucs returned to the floor for the second half and immediately started feeding the ball to Mayes, who scored 10 points in the first seven minutes to help ETSU go on a 16-8 run and pull within seven at the 12:54 mark. A missed Furman three-pointer combined with three consecutive Lady Paladin turnovers to allow the Bucs to pull within two, 40-38, with 10:09 left in the game. At 8:40, point guard Tommi Paris gave Furman its first bucket since 12:27, but another Mayes layup at 7:46 put ETSU back within two, 42-40.
With Furman's advantage fluctuating between two and four points for the next six minutes, ETSU guard B.J. Banjo swished a three-pointer from eight feet beyond the arc to cut the Furman lead to one, 50-49 with just 16 ticks left on the clock. The Bucs were forced to foul and Paris hit both ends of the one-and-one to stretch the Furman lead to three. ETSU's Holly Moring missed a desperation three with eight seconds to play and Paris grabbed the rebound to secure the Furman victory.
When the dust cleared Mayes had tallied 22 points on an 11-for-21 night from the field. B.J. Banjo and Kelly Turman each added eight, while Banjo topped the squad's rebounding effort, with nine.
The Lady Paladins were led on the night by Jen Nadalin's 11 points and six rebounds, while Katie Roach and Tommi Paris each dished off four assists. In addition, Paris picked up three steals and Mivvi Strickland knocked down two blocks. Furman outrebounded the Bucs 41-37 for the game and made seven-of-eight from the free throw line, including the two by Paris in the final seconds.
With the win Furman remains in a tie for second in the Southern Conference, and improves to 13-6 overall and 8-4 in league play. The loss sends ETSU to 8-10 overall and 6-5 in the SoCon. Furman returns to the road on Saturday, Jan. 29, with a 3:00 p.m. game at UNC Greensboro, while the Bucs travel to Chattanooga for a 7 p.m. meeting with the Mocs.
