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Furman Down's Elon 62-42 In SoCon Women's Basketball Action
Dec. 7, 2004
GREENVILLE, South Carolina - Senior center Jen Nadalin poured in 30 points Tuesday night at Timmons Arena to lead the Furman women's basketball team to a 62-42 victory over Elon in the Lady Paladins' Southern Conference season opener.
Elon brought an 0-5 record into the game with the Lady Paladins, but that didn't stop the Phoenix from hitting three three-pointers in the first 11 mintues to take a 19-15 lead with 9:22 to go in the half.
With 56 seconds left in the period Nadalin connected on a pair of free throws to give the Lady Paladins their first lead since 16:25, but Elon's Shashonna More hit a jumpshot with 28 seconds to play to give Elon a one-point advantage. With just 12 ticks left in the period a Sarah Goldfarb foul sent Nadalin back to the line, where she connected on the second of two shots to send the teams to the locker room tied at 23.
The Phoenix made 37.0% (10-of-27) of its first half field goals and outrebounded the Lady Paladins 24 to 13, but Furman stayed in the game by sinking eight-of-12 free throws, despite shooting a dismal 26.9% (7-of-26) from the field. Furman forced 15 first-half Elon turnovers while commiting just six, outscoring the Phoenix 12-2 in points off turnovers.
Nadalin scoring 10 of the Lady Paladins first 12 points in the second period as Furman jumped out to a 37-27 advantage with 14:15 left to play. Starting point guard Tommi Paris fouled out, however, with 12:25 to go and freshman Adrienne Gilmore took over the field general role, finishing the night with two points, one assists, one steal and no turnovers in 15 minutes of action.
In the five minutes following the change at point guard the Phoenix pulled to within five, 41-36, on a series of missed shots by the Lady Paladins. Furman went back inside to Nadalin and the senior responded with 11 points in the final 6:54 to stretch the Furman lead to 20 with 24 seconds left. A missed jumper by Sade Jordan ended the game and moved the Lady Paldins to 1-0 in the Southern Conference.
"They really hurt us on the boards first half," said Furman coach Sam Dixon at the game's conclusion. "Anytime you play a conference game the intensity level goes up, and we have not seen that level of defensive intensity since the Georgia game. But we responded well in the second half and were able to get the ball to Jen and she brought it home for us."
Nadalin led all Furman scorers, with 30, and topped the team at the boards, with eight. Laney Harris dished off a team-high eight assists, while claiming three steals on the night. The Phoenix were led by Tierra Bumbrey's 17 points and Kitara McMoore's nin rebounds.
With the win, Furman improves to 5-1 overall, giving the Lady Paladins their best start since 1988-89. The Lady Paladins will not return to Timmons Arena until a Jan. 2 game against UNC Greensboro, and head to Western Carolina on Saturday for a 5 p.m. matchup with the Catamounts.
Elon , which falls to 0-6 overall and 0-3 in league action returns to the court on Friday, Dec. 15, with a 7 p.m. home game against Greensboro College.
