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Furman Wins Overtime Thriller Against Charleston 64-55
Feb. 7, 2006
Greenville, SC -- Chrissy Phelps led four double-figure scorers with 14 points as Furman ended its nine-game losing streak and defeated College of Charleston 64-55 in overtime on Tuesday night at Timmons Arena. The Lady Paladins last win came on January 7 as Furman beat Georgia Southern 73-62.
Furman was without head coach Sam Dixon, who returned home following the death of his mother on Saturday evening. Assistant coach Jonathon Barbaree took over the head coaching duties for the Lady Paladins.
"Tonight's win was huge for our team," said Barbaree. "We have been going through a slump recently, and it's always good to get back into the win column. We took a lead in the second half, but, to Charleston's credit, they made a run. Our girls never quit, adn we came away with the win."
Charleston took an early lead in overtime as Erika Smith's jumper made it 53-51 with 3:47 left in the extra frame. Furman then answered with a 13-0 run before a Jade Hughes layup with two seconds left finished the scoring. Jessica Lange hit a mid-range jumpshot, and Furman, tops in the Southern Conference in free-throw percentage (.735), hit 10-of-11 to seal the win for the Lady Paladins.
Phelps led the Lady Paladin scoring effort with 14 points. Paris scored 12 points, and Megan Scott and Jessica Lange also reached double-figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Scott was tops on the boards with eight rebounds. Furman only shot 19-of-54 (.352) from the field, but the Lady Paladins were able to turn 11 offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points, and made 21-of-26 (.808) free throws.
Furman had to fight to send the game into overtime as College of Charleston overcame a ten-point deficit over the final 7:32 of the second half. With the Lady Paladins holding a 48-46 lead with 2:40 remaining, a Jade Smith three-pointer and a Smith jump shot gave the visitors a three point lead at 51-48. Paris hit a clutch trey with just seven seconds left to send the game to overtime.
"This is a good win for our team because losing nine in a row started to wear us down," said Paris. "On the last play of regulation, Charleston took away the option that we wanted coming out of the timeout. I was able to get an open look at the basket, and just had to lock and load. It's is a big win because we really wanted to win this one for Coach Dixon."
Jade Hughes was the game's leading scorer with 18 points, while Smith also reached double-figures with 10 points.
The first half began like many during the Lady Paladins' recent losing skid. With the game tied at eight points apiece, Charleston reeled off an 11-0 run to take a 19-8 lead with under seven minutes to go in the first period. Furman then pieced together a 17-3 run to close the half with a 25-22 lead.
"We have been talking with Coach Dixon a lot this week about our gameplan," said Barbaree. "We wanted to be sure that our girls played tough on defense, and were able to execute our offense. It was a big win for our program and now we are looking forward to our game against Wofford on Saturday."
With the win, Furman improves to 8-15 overall, 4-9 in the Southern Conference. College of Charleston drops to 10-11 on the season, 7-6 in conference action. Charleston returns to action on Saturday as the Cougars play host to Elon. Furman welcomes Wofford to Timmons Arena on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. tipoff in a game that will be broadcast live on Comcast Sports Southeast.
