November 29, 2001

FURMAN FALLS BY FOUR TO PANTHERS OF HIGH POINT

GREENVILLE, South Carolina -- Five Furman players posted double digit scoring Thursday night at Timmons Arena, but it was not enough to lift the Lady Paladin basketball team over High Point, as the visiting Panthers took the 84-80 decision.

Furman took its only lead of the game at the 16:59 mark of the first half, when a Mary Brock jumper put the Lady Paladins up 8-7. Less than a minute later a free throw by Deshara Shealey made it 9-7, but High Point tied the game 9-9 on a Stephanie Scott layup at 16:14. From then on it was all Panthers, as HPU stretched its advantage to 11, 41-30, at the halftime break.

Furman outscored the Panthers 10-2 to start the second half and pulled to within three at 17:24 and again at 16:46. High Point went on a 14-3 run to hold a 13-point lead, 59-46 at the 12:27 mark, but a determined Furman team staged a comeback that tied the game at 73 with 4:09 left to play. The Panthers' Misty Brockman broke the tie on a pair of made free throws, but Furman evened the score at 75 on an Althea Bufford layup and again at 78 on an Orion Wake free throw.

In the final 1:40 the Panthers connected on all four free throw attempts and Narelle Henry hit a jumper with the game tied at 80 to give the Panthers the four-point victory.

High Point was led on the night by Shannon O'Brien, who scored a career-high 20 points, and Misty Brockman who added 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds and eight assists. Narelle Henry added 16 points, while Mary Brewer contributed 15 and Stephanie Scott totaled 11.

The Lady Paladins were paced by freshman Monica Pope's 20 points, while Althea Bufford claimed her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Orion Wake added 15 points, Kim Lawrence tallied 12, and Mary Brock contributed 10.

With the win, the Panthers improved to 4-2 on the year, while Furman fell to 2-3. The Lady Paladins will play host to the Tigers of Clemson Sunday, December 2, at 3 p.m.