Story Courtesy Furman sports information
Furman 73, Georgia Southern 62
GREENVILLE, SC - Tommi Paris scored 13 points and Jessica Lange recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds to guide the Furman Lady Paladins to a 73-62 victory over Georgia Southern in Southern Conference action Wednesday evening at Timmons Arena.
Furman, leading 31-28 at the break, opened the second half with a 14-2 run to build a 45-30 lead with 15:21 remaining. Leading 33-30, Sarah Baker drained a three-pointer and Megan Scott hit a jump shot following a Baker steal to up the lead to 38-30. Following jumpers from Lange and Baker, Melissa Liebschwager buried a three-pointer to complete the run.
Georgia Southern answered the Furman run with a 7-0 outburst of its own following a timeout. Liebschwager answered back for the Lady Paladins with a three-pointer, two jumpers and a free throw to give Furman its largest lead of the night at 55-37 with 11:32 left.
The Eagles climbed to within five at 67-62 with under a minute to go, but Paris, Baker and Melynda Gant iced the victory away by converting 6-of-6 free throw attempts in the final 21 seconds.
Furman, who led wire to wire to push its SoCon record to 3-0, jumped out to a 9-2 lead over the opening three and a half minutes of the game. Lange paced the Lady Paladins with eight points and seven rebounds in the first period.
Liebschawager and Baker joined Paris and Lange in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Furman shot 40.3% from the field on the strength of a 13-for-28 (46.4%) effort from the floor in the second half. The Lady Paladins sunk 17-of-21 free throw attempts and 6-of-15 treys.
Nicole Newton and Ashley Melson led Georgia Southern with 11 points each. Newton registered a double-double by adding 14 rebounds. The Eagles, who held a 49-43 edge in rebounding, shot just 32.9% (24-of-73) and made only 4-of-23 three-point tries.
Story Courtesy Wofford sports information
Winthrop 56, Wofford 44
ROCK HILL, SC - An off-shooting night by visiting Wofford enabled Winthrop to pull away early and hold on for a 56-44 victory in women’s basketball action Wednesday night in the Winthrop Coliseum.
In their last non-conference game of the season, the Terriers shot a season-low 23.4 percent from the field on 15-of-64 attempts, which included a 5-of-29 (17.2 percent) effort during the game’s first 20 minutes.
After the Lady Eagles jumped out early, senior LaToya Strong gave Wofford (4-8) its first and only lead at 6-5 with 12:48 remaining in the first half. Over the next two-and-a-half minutes, to the 10:01 mark, Winthrop opened up the contest with a 9-2 run for a 14-8 edge. The run was capped by a 3-pointer by Ashley Carey.
While the Terriers continued to struggle making baskets, the Lady Eagles connected on their attempts and pushed their lead to as much as 14 at 27-13 as the teams entered the locker rooms.
Back-to-back buckets by sophomore Kelsi Koenig brought Wofford back within 12, 29-17, with 18:52 to play in the contest. The points would be the Terriers’ last until the 9:40 mark when senior Nakia Mister hit 1-of-2 free throws. Over the same stretch, Winthrop (4-7) outscored Wofford 9-0 to hold a 38-18 lead.
Freshman Summer Nichols would help the Terriers chip away at the deficit with four free throws, the last pair bringing the visitors within 16, 43-27, with 4:59 left.
The Lady Eagles kept Wofford at bay with timely shots of their own. The Terriers’ outside shooting started to make a difference during the final stretch of the game.
Five of Wofford’s final six field goals were 3-pointers, including three from freshman Liz Miller and a pair from junior Mary Jo Yee.
Miller’s last trey sliced the margin to 10, 54-44, with 15 seconds showing on the clock.
Carey connected on two free throws with 11 seconds to go to close the scoring.
Ashley Fann finished as the game’s top scorer with 14 points. One half of her total came at the foul line, as she hit 7-of-8.
Jolandra Crump collected a game-high 11 rebounds, while Iva Milevoj dished out a game-high 10 assists for Winthrop.
Leading the Terrier attack was Yee with 11 followed by Miller with nine.
Koenig and junior K.C. Correll grabbed a team-best seven rebounds. The total is a season-best tally for Correll.
Junior Jenny Weurding, who entered the game ranked 27th nationally in blocked shots per game, finished with six to raise her career total to 144. She is now 25 shy of the all-time Wofford mark of 169 held by Lucy Hines (1997-2001). Weurding is also in fourth place on the career Southern Conference list.