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Lady Paladins' Season Ends with 79-56 Loss to Western Carolina
Feb. 28, 2007
North Charleston, S.C. - Top-seeded Western Carolina had four players in double figures and established a 25-point halftime lead to defeat the ninth-seeded Furman women's basketball team in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Women's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at the North Charleston Coliseum.
The loss ends the Lady Paladins' (11-20) 2006-07 season. Western Carolina (22-8) advances to the semifinals of the league tournament to face the winner of UNC Greensboro versus Georgia Southern.
The Paladins were led by Chrissy Phelps' game-high 18 points, 16 of which came in the second half. Katie Johnson was just a rebound away from a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing nine boards.
Western Carolina's Monique Dawson dropped 16 points on 5-of-10 from the field. Chevon Keith scored 10 points to go along with 15 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season.
The Catamounts jumped out to a 25-5 lead in the opening half, holding Furman without a field goal for over seven minutes as the Lady Paladins missed 12 consecutive shots from the floor. Furman scored a season-low 15 points in the first 20 minutes, connecting on only 6-of-28 (.214) from the floor. Western Carolina nailed 17 field goals, five from downtown, en route to a 40-15 advantage at the break.
Despite the 25-point deficit and a definite fatigue factor, Furman came out fighting in the final half. The Lady Paladins scored the first six points to cut into the Catamount lead. Another 7-0 run capped by a Johnson jumper, brought Furman within 13 with just over six minutes to play. Western Carolina responded by outscoring the Lady Paladins 18-8 over the final six minutes to earn the 79-56 victory.
For the game, Western Carolina shot 46 percent (31-68), compared to 37 percent (21-57) by the Lady Paladins The Catamounts held the advantage on the glass, out-rebounding Furman 45-33. After turning the ball over nine times in the first half, Furman had only three miscues in the second stanza. WCU finished with 10 total turnovers.
Senior Jessica Lange played in her final game as a Lady Paladin. She tallied one block to finish her career ranked second on Furman's all-time block list with 125 rejections.
