 |  |
Furman Defeats College of Charleston 66-63 at SoCon Tournament
March 2, 2006
CHARLESTON, SC - Furman's Tommi Paris netted 19 points and hit four crucial free throws down the stretch to lead the ninth-seeded Lady Paladins to a 66-63 victory over eighth-seeded College of Charleston Cougars in the first game of the 2006 Southern Conference Women's Basketball Championships from McAlister Fieldhouse. With the victory, Furman upped its record to 10-19 on the year and advances to face top-seeded Chattanooga on Friday afternoon. The Cougars dropped to 11-17 this season.
The first half of play was a back-and-forth battle that featured eight ties, the last coming with 3:24 remaining in the period when Charleston's Nikki Williams hit a jumper to even the score at 25. The Lady Paladins closed the half on a 10-1 run to hold a 35-26 halftime advantage. During that run, Paris scored seven points while Princess Wells accounted for the other three markers.
College of Charleston came out hot in the second half, using a 15-2 run over the first 5:39 of the period to grab a 41-37 lead on two Jade Hughes free throws. Furman, who has now won seven consecutive Southern Conference Tournament openers, responded and knotted the score at 41 when Wells sank two from the charity stripe with 11:18 left on the clock.
The Cougars answered right back, pushing their lead to as many as four points, the latest coming when Hughes drained a three-point bucket with 9:08 left to give Charleston a 50-46 edge.
The two teams stayed close and, with 1:25 remaining, the squads saw the fifth tie of the half at 60-60 when Williams hit a jumper for the Cougars.
Furman, who made 30 of 31 free throw attempts on the day, scored its final 12 points from the line, including four from Paris. Paris, who ranks fourth in the nation in free throw percentage, hit all eight of her tries from the charity stripe. Charleston's final three points came on a three-point bucket from Erica Irick. The 30 free throws made by the Lady Paladins in one off of the Southern Conference Tournament record of 31 set by East Tennessee State in 1990 and equaled by Appalachian State in 1999.
The game's leading scorer was Charleston's Erika Smith who netted a career-high 22 points on 10 of 15 shooting from the floor. Smith also collected a career-best nine rebounds, finishing one carom shy of her first career double-double. Hughes added 10 markers in the loss for the Cougars who shot 40.4 percent from the floor on the day.
Furman was paced by Paris and Chrissy Phelps who added 12 points off the bench. Melynda Gant led the Lady Paladins on the boards with six.
The Lady Paladins advance to the quarterfinals of the SoCon Tournament where they will face off against SoCon regular season champion and No. 1 seed Chattanooga on Friday at 1:30 p.m. at McAlister Fieldhouse.
