Dec. 5, 2007

GREENVILLE, S.C. -

Willie T. Smith

The Greenville News

There was no one more excited to begin the Furman University women's basketball season than Susan Troutman.

After redshirting during the 2006-07 season, Troutman has become a valuable member of the team this season as she comes off the bench to give the team a lift.

"I thought (redshirting) will be OK, but at first it was pretty hard," said Troutman, who played high school basketball at Christ Church. "The first game was really upsetting because I didn't get to dress out with the rest of my teammates. But I got used to it and learned a lot sitting on the bench."

Furman (3-3) hosts Clemson University (4-5) tonight at Timmons Arena in a game scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Clemson leads the series 18-2, but the Paladins have been competitive in recent seasons.

Furman took its lumps earlier in the season in losses to powers Vanderbilt University and the University of North Carolina but put together its best performance of the season with a 70-53 win against Rice last week.

"It's always good to play the big schools, especially with UNC," Troutman said. "Even though we lost, we still learned we could play with them and that our defense was pretty good. We held them to 76 points, and they're a solid team. They can score pretty much at will."

That gives the Paladins a confidence boost for tonight's game.

"I'm excited about playing (Clemson)," said Troutman. "Last year we didn't lose by much to them. Hopefully this year we can beat them."

Whatever happens tonight, Troutman is confident Furman will have a solid season in the Southern Conference.

"I feel we've improved a lot, and I think we're a solid team," she said. "We're a good team. We've learned a lot. ... We'll face good teams when we enter the Southern Conference part of the schedule, because in our conference, you never know who is going to win. There is no team that is going to beat everybody. It should be good."