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Furman Falls to Western Carolina 63-49
Feb. 18, 2006
Greenville, SC - Monique Dawson scored 10 points as Western Carolina handed Furman its second straight loss 63-49 on Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena. Chrissy Phelps led Furman in scoring with 14 points. Phelps has scored in double-figures in four of the last five contests.
Western Carolina (7-18, 7-9 Southern Conference) out rebounded Furman 48-29, including 18 offensive boards that led to 14 second chance points. Furman (9-17, 5-11 SoCon), which leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage at 38.8%, was unable to find its rhythm from beyond the arc, shooting only 28.6% on six-of-21 shooting.
After trailing by as many as 11 points in the second half, Furman cut the lead to 51-47 on a Katie Agin jumpshot with just over seven minutes remaining. The Catamounts ended the game on a 12-2 run, as the Lady Paladins shot just one-of-13 from the field during the stretch.
Furman shot 18-of-54 (33.3%) from the floor for the game, its lowest shooting percentage since a 27.3% performance at Georgia Southern on Jan. 28.
Melissa Liebschwager joined Phelps in double-figures as she poured in 10 points. Megan Scott and Melynda Gant led Furman on the boards as each pulled down seven rebounds. Tommi Paris was tops on the team with three steals.
Paris scored seven points for the Lady Paladins, including a perfect four-of-four from the free throw line. Paris entered the game leading the conference, and sixth in the nation, in free throw percentage at 91.3% (84-92). The senior from Chattanooga, Tenn. also leads the conference in three-point shooting percentage at a 45.9% clip, but was just one-of-seven against the Catamounts.
Jessica Lange had two blocked shots for Furman, improving on her Southern Conference leading 1.96 blocks per contest. Lange now has 51 blocks on the season, and 76 for her career, good for seventh place all-time in Furman history. Lange needs just seven more blocks to pass Kena Hodges for sixth place in the Lady Paladin record books. The sophomore from Knoxville, Tenn. has had at least one blocked shot in 17 straight games, dating back to Dec. 29. Lange has put up multiple blocked shots on 15 occasions this season.
The loss drops Furman to 9-17 overall, 5-11 in the Southern Conference. Western Carolina improves to 7-18 on the season, 7-9 in conference action. The Catamounts are back in action on Monday as they play host to College of Charleston. Furman is back in action as the Lady Paladins play host to Elon on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
