November 26, 2001

AUBURN TIGERS TOP FURMAN 80-62 AT TIMMONS

GREENVILLE, South Carolina -- Despite a 23-point effort by Furman freshman Monica Pope, the Auburn Tigers topped the Furman basketball team 80-62 Monday at Timmons Arena, sending the Lady Paladin record to 2-2 on the season.

Furman stayed close to the Tigers for the first 10 minutes, pulling to within two at the 10:25 mark on a pair of Pope free throws. At halftime the Auburn advantage was nine, 41-32, but the Lady Paladins could not get any closer, despite sound three-point shooting that resulted in 21 of the team's 30 second-half points coming on shots from behind the arc. In the final tally, the Lady Paladins shot 55% from three point range, but only 34.4% from the field as a whole. The Tigers connected on 56.3% of their shots and outrebounded Furman 41-24 to break open the game for the 18-point victory.

Auburn was paced by sophomore forward Le'Coe Willingham, who tied her career high with 23 points and set a new personal best with 16 rebounds for her eighth career double-double. In addition, Tia Miller added 14 points and sophomore Nancy Derrick of Johnston, S.C., tallied a career-best 12.

In addition to Pope's solid showing, Furman relied on sophomore Alison Thomason, who scored 14 and Deshara Shealey, who contributed 10. Both teams shot well from the line, with Auburn connecting on 82.1% of its shots and Furman following suit with a 77.8% mark from the free throw line.

With the win, Auburn improves to 5-0 on the year and will host Syracuse Thursday at 7:00 p.m. (CST). Furman will play host to High Point on Thursday in a 7:00 p.m. (EST) game, with a 3:00 p.m. matchup versus Clemson slated for Sunday.