FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

December 28, 2000

Simpson leads Cougars to 64-63 victory over Furman

Charleston, SC ­ Wilma Simpson tied her career high in points with 23 and rebounds with 16 as the College of Charleston defeated Southern Conference foe Furman 64-63 Thursday at the John Kresse Arena.

Both teams started slowly, with neither team scoring until the 16:06 mark of the first half when Furman went up 2-0. The Cougars (6-4, 2-0) took a 32-29 lead into halftime. In the second half, CofC jumped out to a 15-point lead at 46-31, but Furman slowly cut the lead and tied the game at 60 with 2:53 left in the game.

The two teams battled back and forth, and Furman (7-4, 1-1) went up 63-62 on Orion Wake¹s made free throw with 32 seconds remaining. Simpson¹s lay-up with 22 second left put the Cougars up 64-63 for the final margin Simpson¹s 23 points came on 11-for-23 shooting from the field, and Simpson also recorded five steals.

Becky Wollenberg was one point shy of her career high with 18 points as the second leading scorer for CofC. For the game, CofC shot 44.1 percent (26-59) form the field, 25.0 percent (3-12) from three-point range and 75.0 percent (9-12) from the free throw line.

Deshara Shealey led Furman with 15 points, followed buy Orion Wake with 12. Mary Brock recorded a team-high eight rebounds, and seven Lady Paladins recorded at least one steal. Furman shot 45.6 percent (26-57) from the field, 38.5 percent (5-13) from behind the three-point line and 42.9 percent (6-14) from the charity stripe.

Furman will host the Spartans of UNC Greensboro on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 7:30 p.m.