GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Games against Clemson, South Carolina, and Georgia highlight Furman's 2011-12 women's basketball schedule which which was released today by head coach Jackie Carson.
The Paladins will entertain Clemson in a Nov. 28 clash at Timmons Arena and play South Carolina (Dec. 11) in Columbia and Georgia (Dec. 28) in Athens. The South Carolina contest will mark the first clash between the Paladins and Gamecocks since the 2001-02 season while Furman and Georgia will be meeting for the first time since the 2004-05 campaign.
"We really look forward to playing a challenging schedule and preparing our team for the Southern Conference," said Carson on Thursday. "We have a number of young players on our squad, and to assist their development we want to face good competition, which we will this season."
Furman will play Anderson University in an exhibition at Timmons Arena on Nov. 7 before opening the season at Charleston Southern on Nov. 11. The Paladins tip off their 14-game home slate against Troy on Nov. 17 and begin SoCon play on the road on Dec. 3 versus College of Charleston.
Furman will play five of its final seven games at home before heading into Southern Conference Tournament action, which gets underway on Mar. 2 in Asheville, N.C.
The 2011-12 campaign will mark the second for the Paladins under Carson, who returned to her alma mater a year ago to take over the reins of a program where she once starred as a player.
Furman proved to be one of the SoCon's biggest surprises last season, defying a coaches preseason No. 10 pick to notch a fifth-place finish that saw the Paladins win five of their last six regular season games, including three consecutive road triumphs. Furman doubled its win total from seven to 14, making it the most improved program in the 11-team league in 2010-11.
The Paladins return only two starters and five letterwinners this year, including a pair of juniors in guard Kaitlin Murphy (13.2 ppg, 122 assists), the squad's top scorer a year ago, and wing Raegan Thompson (6.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg).
Among the six newcomers joining the squad this year are Seminole (Okla.) State Junior College All-America guard Teshia Girswold; Palmetto state forwards Savonia Bryan, team captain of Spring Valley High School's 2011 4-A state championship team, and Alexis Peterson of Hillcrest High School; and a pair of highly rated performers from Georgia, including Walton High School 5-A all-state guard/forward Sarah Durdaller, the 2010-11 Cobb County Female Athlete of the Year, and McEachern High School's Brittany Hodges, rated 79th nationally among forwards and a two-star recruit by ESPN.
Furman opens preseason practice on Oct. 3.