Furman 60, Davidson 52
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Kelly O'Connor poured in 24 points and Furman held off a late Davidson charge to claim a 60-52 victory in women's Southern Conference basketball action Wednesday evening at Timmons Arena.
The triumph moved Furman (10-14, 6-9 SoCon) into a tie with Davidson (11-13, 6-9 SoCon) for seventh place in the league standings.
O'Connor, a senior guard from Alpharetta, Ga., proved to be the difference maker in a contest that saw both squads struggle to find shooting range, as she converted 8-of-18 field goal attempts, including 5-of-10 3-pointers, and all three free throw attempts. The 24-point effort was the second highest tally of her career, falling one shy of an early season 25-point performance in a road victory over Mercer.
Katilin Murphy was the only other Paladin to register double figures, tallying 17 points, and senior center Kaitlin Oberg contributed a career high 13 rebounds and solid defensive play, including three blocks, in the first start of her career.
Ashley Lax topped Davidson's attack with 12 points, and Sophia Aleksandravicius overcame early foul trouble to register 11 points and 13 rebounds.
The Wildcats out-shot Furman, converting 33.9 percent from the field (21-of-62) to the Paladins' 30.6 percent (19-of-62). O'Connor's accuracy from 3-point range, however, was decisive as the Paladins drained 7-of-20 treys. Furman also canned 15-of-26 free throws while Davidson connected on 8-of-10 shots from the line.
The Paladins closed the first half behind an 11-4 run to take a 29-22 lead into intermission.
O'Connor scored the first five points of the second half to stretch Furman's advantage to 36-22, and her 3-pointer with 8:47 to go extended the margin to 47-32.
A Lakyn Ledford free throw 30 seconds later made it 48-32, but Davidson responded with a 7-0 run to slice the lead to 48-39 on a pair of Aleksandravicius free throws with 4:38 remaining.
The Wildcats trimmed the Paladins' advantage to 50-46 with a Kristen Johnson jump shot at the 3:03 juncture and trailed 52-48 when O'Connor took a pass from Murphy and stroked her final trey of the contest for a 55-48 lead with 1:09 showing on the clock.
Furman managed a 49-44 advantage on the boards.
Now 9-2 at home on the campaign, Furman's season long six-game home stand will continue on Saturday when the Paladins entertain Western Carolina in a 3:30 p.m. game that will be televised by CSS.
Wofford 64, Western Carolina 60
CULLOWHEE, N.C. -- Led by Mahagony Williams' 24th career double-double and fifth of the season as the Wofford Terriers snapped a seven game losing streak with a 64-60 win over the Western Carolina Catamounts in a Southern Conference game in the Ramsey Center.
Williams scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half and grabbed eight of her ten boards. Williams was on the floor for 18 of the final 20 minutes of play and went 5-of-8 in the second half and 6-of-10 overall. She also went 4-of-6 from the free throw line all of which came in the second half.
The game started with neither team converting a field goal until Western's Rena Wakama converted a jumper at the 16:11 mark. On Wofford's next possession Maddie Helms tied the game with three.
The Catamounts pulled away with a 9-0 run to take a 12-3 lead three minutes later. Wofford pulled within three points on two Ashley Kroker free throws with 8:11 to play, and eventually tied the game at 21 with three minutes remaining in the half on two Helms free throws.
The Catamounts ended the half with a 5-0 run to take a 26-21 lead into the half.
Wofford was led in scoring at the break by Kroker, who had eight points by going a perfect 2-for-2 from three and from the free throw line.
Both teams shot 30 percent from the floor, while the Terriers held an advantage in three point shooting, 42 percent to 30 percent. The Catamounts were 7-of-10 from the charity stripe in the half, while the Terriers where a perfect 6-of-6.
In the second half, the Terriers cut the lead to one, 32-31, one a Rachel Brittenham layup with 14:53 to play, but the Catamounts rallied with a 5-0 run to push the lead back to 37-31.
Western Carolina stayed out of reach until Wofford turned a 40-33 deficit into a 43-40 lead via a 10-0 run with just over minutes to play. Daniella Motley had four of the team's ten points during the stretch. The Catamounts mounted a 13-4 run over the next three and a half minutes to a take 53-47 lead on an Emily Clark three with 4:31 to play.
Wofford responded to tie the game at 53 a minute later on a Kelly Blake three, and took a two point lead, 55-53 on a Williams post move. Western Carolina tied the game for the fifth and final time with two Janae McKinney free throws with two minutes to play.
Wofford would go on a 9-4 run over the final two minutes aided by knocking down five of their final six free throws to earn the 64-60 win. It was the first time the Terriers won on the road in the 2010-11 season and their first win since January 13.
Wofford went 50 percent from the floor in the second half to finish the game at 42 percent overall. They were 39 percent from the three and turned in their second highest free throw percentage of the season at 85 percent. Western Carolina finished with a 35 percent field goal percentage, 39 percent three point percentage and a 75 percent free throw percentage.
Trailing Williams for the Terriers was April Moorhouse, who had 12 points by going 4-of-7 from the floor and converted all four of her free throw attempts. Kelly Blake followed with a career-high 11 points. Brittenham, who played the entire 40 minutes, handed out four assists and had a career-high seven rebounds. Helms also had four assists setting a new career-high for the senior.
Lauren Sanchez led the Catamounts in scoring with 16 points, while Caitlin Hollifield scored 12 points. Wakama added ten points. Clarke and Hollifield grabbed a team high six rebounds.
The Terriers improved to 7-15 overall and 3-11 in SoCon play, while the Catamounts fall to 6-18 on the season and 4-11 in the conference.
Wofford will travel to Elon for their next game on Saturday, February 12 at 2 p.m. The Terriers fell 64-47 in the first meeting between the two teams in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.