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Lady Paladins Fall to Davidson in Final Regular-Season Contest
Feb. 25, 2007
Greenville, S.C. - Four Wildcats scored in double figures to lead visiting Davidson College to a 71-66 victory over the Furman women's basketball team in the regular-season finale for both teams at Timmons Arena on Sunday afternoon. Furman drops to 10-19 overall, 5-13 in the Southern Conference and will be the ninth seed in the upcoming league tournament next week. Davidson (22-7, 13-5) earns the third seed and a first-round bye in the SoCon Tournament.
Junior Paladin Chrissy Phelps scored a career-high 23 points on 8-of-11 from the field. She also added seven rebounds and two steals to her totals. Maggie McKemie was the only other Paladin in double figures with a personal-best 14 tallies, including a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
Davidson was led by Katie Hamilton's 14 points and game-high eight rebounds. Brynn Kelly and Danielle Hemerka added 12 points apiece, while Tia Washington contributed 11 points on 4-of-6 from the floor.
With the game knotted at 10 early in the first half, McKemie scored six straight points to jumpstart an 11-4 Furman run and give the home team a 21-14 advantage at the 12:04 mark. Furman maintained a slight lead over the next seven minutes before a Washington jumper tied the game at 24 with 5:21 remaining in the opening half. Back-to-back three-pointers by Honna Housley gave Davidson the upper-hand, 30-24, a lead it would never relinquish. The `Cats scored eight of the final 12 points in the half to take a 38-28 lead to the locker room.
Furman cut the Wildcat advantage to single digits three times in the first 10 minutes of the final stanza, but Davidson always seemed to have an answer. The `Cats improved their lead to as many as 16 points, 67-51, with four minutes remaining in the game. The Lady Paladins refused to go down easy, though, scoring the next six points to put themselves within eight with less than a minute to play. Davidson nailed 4-of-6 free throws in the last 30 seconds to get by with the 71-66 victory.
Davidson shot 44 percent in the contest, compared to Furman's 42 percent. The Lady Paladins held a slight advantage on the glass, out-rebounding the Wildcats 35-32. It is only the third game Furman has lost this year when out-gaining its opponent on the boards.
Senior Jessica Lange played her final game in front of the home fans, contributing seven rebounds and two points in the effort. Lange is second on Furman's all-time block list with 125 and she also holds the single-game school record for blocks with seven against Chattanooga on Feb. 12.
Furman will face eighth-seeded College of Charleston in the first round of the 2007 Southern Conference Tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, S.C. The game will tip 30 minutes after the conclusion of the 7 p.m. game. Davidson will prepare to take on No. 6 Wofford on Thursday, March 1 in the postseason tournament. Tip-time will be 30 minutes after the 9 a.m. contest.
