Feb. 24, 2002

Cougars Drop Last Regular-Season Game to Furman 71-57

Charleston, SC Furman's Orion Wake scored 19 and Monica Pope added 16 as the Paladins came back from a four-point deficit at halftime to defeat the College of Charleston 71-57 in women's basketball action in front of 353 fans at the John Kresse Arena. This was the last regular-season game for both teams.

The win sends the Paladins to 16-11 overall and 11-7 in the Southern Conference, while the Cougars drop to 13-13 on the season and 7-11 in the SoCon, heading in to the tournament next week.

The first half saw seven lead changes as no team took charge of the game. Charleston did lead by as much as six with a minute to play in the first half but took the four-point lead going into the second. Furman held the advantage in rebounds with a 23-16 edge, allowing the Cougars with only four offensive boards. Charleston shot 42.3 percent for the half and held Furman to just 32.1.

Furman came out into the second half firing on all cylinders, going on a 25-7 run the first 12-and-a-half minutes to jump out to its largest lead of the game at 53-39. The Cougars would cut the lead back down to nine with 6:00 left off a two-pointer by Brittney Scarberry. That would be as close as the Cougars would get as the Paladins kept the lead around ten the rest of then night, finishing the game 14 points ahead. Furman jumped to 60 percent from the field in the second half to end the game 45.3. Charleston shot 30 percent in the second half to end the game at 35.7. Furman kept the rebound lead at 43-33.

Wilma Simpson had 12 rebounds to lead the Cougars while Wake's eight paced the Paladins. Patrice Bryant had 14 points and Jennifer Harper had 10 in the Cougar effort. Simpson's seven points put her over the 1,000-point mark for her career. Her 1,004 points put her seventh in the College of Charleston Division I record books.

The Cougars earned the #7 seed for the upcoming Southern Conference tournament and will play Thursday, Feb. 28th against #10 East Tennessee State in the play-in game. Game time is set for 8:30 at McAlister Fieldhouse on the campus of The Citadel. Furman, the #3 seed, earned a bye and will play #6 Western Carolina Friday, Feb. 29th, at 8:30 PM.