DAVIDSON, N.C. -- For the second time in the past three games, the Davidson women's basketball team had three scorers reach double digits, and they also placed two players in double figures in rebounds as the Wildcats started the month of December in winning fashion with a 67-57 victory in their conference and home opener against visiting Furman on Tuesday evening at John M. Belk Arena.

Davidson snapped its five-game losing streak with a balanced attack to improve to 2-5 on the year, while winning its Southern Conference opener for the third straight season. Furman fell to an even 3-3 overall and 0-1 in SoCon action.

Senior Mercedes Robinson (Baltimore, Md.) and Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) had their second straight solid game on the offensive end with 18 and 17 points, respectively, to pace the Wildcats. The duo were coming off career highs of 24 and 19 points, respectively, against St. Joe's last Saturday at the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament.

Robinson was one board shy of her third double-double as she finished with nine rebounds, but supplying the muscle on the glass for the 'Cats were forwards Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.) and Mandy Halbersleben (Cincinnati, Ohio). The duo hauled in 22 of the Wildcats' game-high 49 total rebounds. Paquette, who hauled in a previous personal-best of nine boards at Vanderbilt, equaled that in the first half, and tacked on three more in the second half for a game- and career-high 12. Halbersleben matched her career-best with 10.

Leading 59-54 with 4:18 remaining in the contest, Davidson put the game out of reach by going on an 8-0 run over the next two and half minutes to take a 67-54 lead. Paquette tallied four of her eight points for the game during the stretch.

The Wildcats, who led by as many as 13 in the second half, saw Furman cut the lead down to five twice, but each time, the 'Cats answered back with the sweet shooting of Lax and junior point guard Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.).

After a jumper by Furman's Melissa Liebschwager at the 10:06 mark brought the Paladins within five at 43-38, Thompson responded for Davidson with back-to-back clutch treys to push the lead back out to nine. Thompson rounded out the trio of double-figure scores with 10 points to go along with a season-high seven assists and five rebounds.

Then at the 8:14 mark, a Paladin layup brought the score to 49-44, but Lax countered with a bucket in the lane off a pass from Thompson and drew a foul. She swished home the free throw to complete the three-point play and Davidson went on to push the lead back out to 10 with 5:41 remaining in the contest.

The first half saw Furman, which entered the night leading the league in three-point shooting, used the three-ball to its advantage as it opened up a 13-11 lead by hitting three of its first five shots from behind the arc. Lee Stephens hit two of them in the half, and finished at her season average of 17 points for the game to pace the Paladins, who also had three players in double figures.

Lax answered for the Wildcats by showcasing her own deadly-eye from three-land, draining three shots from downtown. Her biggest three of the half came at the end of a 7-0 run to close out the period when she fired in a buzzer-beater from the right wing to give the Wildcats a 31-24 lead heading into halftime.

Lax closed out the contest a personal-best 4-of-9 from three-land and Davidson tied its season-high with seven three-pointers.

The Wildcats return to action when they head to play Appalachian State on Saturday, Dec. 6, with gametime set for 5 p.m. while Furman visits Kentucky Saturday at 2 p.m.

UNC Greensboro 45, Elon 39

ELON, N.C. ? Kendra Smith posted a contest-best 11 points and Gini Grimsley notched the game’s lone double-double performance with 10 markers and 10 caroms as UNC Greensboro survived Amber Wall’s game-high and career-high 18 rebounds to claim a 45-39 women’s basketball win over Elon in the Southern Conference opener for both teams Tuesday night at Alumni Gym.

The defensive battle featured four ties and five lead changes. The Phoenix (1-6 overall, 0-1 SoCon) fashioned a 19-16 halftime advantage following Julie Taylor’s jumper with 4:50 left to play in the opening stanza. The Spartans (2-5, 1-0) opened the second period with a 10-4 run to pull ahead 26-23 on a layup by Monique Floyd with 15:21 remaining in the contest.

Elon answered by reeling off the game’s next seven points to seize a 30-26 edge on a bucket by Wall with 11:11 remaining. UNCG rallied back with 10 consecutive points to claim a 36-30 lead on a three-point field goal by Smith with 8:32 to go. The Phoenix used a 9-5 surge to draw to within 41-39 on a fast-break basket by Wall with 2:14 left, but could never inch any closer.

Smith canned a pair of free throws with 19 seconds to play and Floyd, who finished with 10 points, sank a pair of charity shots with 10 ticks remaining to determine the final margin. Lakiah Hyson and Amanda Leigh each tallied four steals and Agne Girstautaite blocked three shots for the Spartans.

UNCG outscored Elon 30-20 in the paint, 15-8 off turnovers, 12-5 off second chances and 23-14 off the bench. The Phoenix won the battle of boards 52-46, but surrendered 21 turnovers to the 17 committed by the Spartans.

Courtney Medley put up 10 points and nine boards for Elon, but the Phoenix fired an uncharacteristic 25.8 percent (17 of 66) from the floor ? 16.7 percent (2 of 12) from three-point land ? and 42.9 percent (3 of 7) from the free throw line. UNCG shot 29.7 percent (19 of 64) from the field ? 20.0 percent (2 of 10) from beyond the arc ? and 71.4 percent (5 of 7) from the charity stripe.

Wofford 78, Gardner-Webb 72

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford women’s basketball team picked up its first win of the season on Tuesday night over the Runnin’ Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena.  Wofford led at one time by as many as 16 points, but held on in the end for the 78-72 victory.  Wofford is now 1-4 on the season while Gardner-Webb falls to 4-2.

In the opening half, Gardner-Webb jumped out to an early 10-2 lead just two minutes into the game.   A Liz Miller basket at the 17:08 followed by a Mahagony Williams layup cut the lead to four.  Gardner-Webb was charged with a technical foul seconds before the first media timeout but the Terriers were unable to convert on the free throw attempts.  Wofford cut the lead to two on a layup by Kathlyn Varno but the Runnin’ Bulldogs responded with a four point run to push the lead to 16-10.

The Terriers stormed back to take its first lead of the game paced by Maddie Helms who came off the bench to knock down two triples to give Wofford at 17-16 lead with eleven minutes left on the clock.  Wofford would continue to lead but only by a couple of possessions with eight minutes left in the half.  However, a steal and layup by Kelly Dwyer gave the Terriers a ten point advantage that was increased to twelve on a Miller layup with 5:21 left to play. Wofford would continue to lead, at times by as many as 16, throughout the remainder of the first half taking a 44-36 advantage into the break.

Wofford shot 44.1 percent from the floor, 44.4 percent from behind the arc and 62.5 percent from the charity stripe in the opening period.  The Terrier defense held Gardner-Webb to 31.4 percent shooting from the field while forcing 16 Runnin’ Bulldog Turnovers.  Wofford’s bench outscored the Gardner-Webb Bench by a 23-12 margin with Helms leading the way with eight points.

Williams quickly asserted herself down low for the Terriers at the start of the second half scoring the first four points for Wofford.  Gardner-Webb would cut the Terrier lead down to seven with just under 15 minutes left in the game; the closest they had been since the six minute mark in the opening half.  The Runnin’ Bulldogs continued to inch closer and got within three points just under the ten minute mark.  A three point play by Wofford’s Miller increased the lead back to six.

Gardner-Webb would continue to hang around and got back within four after a three point play with less than five minutes left in the contest.  The gap closed to just two for the Terriers after a Wofford turnover was converted into a Runnin’ Bulldog layup.  Natalie Gramblin converted two free throws coming out of the final media timeout to push the Terrier lead back to four.  Kathlyn Varno got her first two points of the game at the 2:23 mark to extend the lead to six.  Gramblin then converted a layup on the next Terrier possession with less than five seconds left on the shot clock and 29 seconds left in regulation to give Wofford a seven point lead.  Solid free throw shooting for the Terriers at the end gave Wofford its first win of the season.

The Terriers shot 37.1 percent for the game from the field, 33.3 percent from three, and 77.8 percent from the foul line.  The Runnin’ Bulldogs only shot 35.2 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from behind the arc and 70.8 percent from the foul line.  Wofford was a perfect 11 for 11 in the second half from the foul line and forced Gardner-Webb into 26 turnovers for the game.

Miller led the Terrier offense tallying 16 points.  Dwyer and Gramblin also reached double figures for the Terriers with 11 and ten points, respectively.  Kate Dempsey led the Terriers on the glass with eight boards while Summer Nichols added six.

Gardner-Webb was led by Laura Povilonyte who tallied 17 points and Dominique Hudson picked up 13 points including going 7-11 at the foul line.

The Terriers return to action on Thursday as they open its Southern Conference Slate against SoCon newcomer Samford at 6 p.m. inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena.

UNC Asheville 90, Western Carolina 71