January 29, 2002

LEAGUE-LEADING SPARTANS TOO MUCH FOR LADY PALADINS

GREENVILLE, South Carolina -- UNC Greensboro proved to be too much for Furman Tuesday night as the Spartans snapped a five-game Lady Paladin home win streak with a 66-57 Southern Conference victory in Timmons Arena.

Furman got in the hole early, falling behind 19-9 just 10:07 into the game. Things got worse for the Lady Paladins before they got better, as Furman played from the 8:25 mark to 1:19 without scoring a field goal. When the halftime buzzer sounded, the Lady Paladins were down 21 points to the league-leading Spartans, a slight comeback from a 24-point deficit with 1:46 to play. In the half, the Lady Paladins shot a miserable 16.0% (4-25) from the field, while the Spartans connected on 48.5% (16-33) of their field goal attempts.

With the start of the second half, the Spartans quickly upped their lead to 27, 50-23, with 16:10 left to play. In danger of being blown out on their home court, Furman turned up its defensive intensity and went on a 20-7 run to pull within 14 at the 8:37 mark. In the final five minutes Furman again outscored the Spartans 10-5, but it was not enough to overcome the early deficit. When the final buzzer sounded the percentages had evened out, and the Spartans shot 39.3% for the game, with Furman just behind at 32.3%. In addition rebounds were nearly even at 48 for UNCG and 47 for Furman, and turnovers were 12-10, with Furman giving up the ball twice more than the Spartans.

UNCG, which improved to 14-5 overall and 9-1 in the Southern Conference, was led by Samika Foster's 11 points. Jacinda Lambert and Brianne Dodgen each added 10, while center Sandi Reid led rebounding with 12.

Furman was paced by Monica Pope's 13 points. Junior Orion Wake recorded double digit rebounding for the 13th-time this year, with 13 boards on the night.

The Lady Paladins (11-9, 6-5) will travel to Boone, N.C., Saturday for a 1 p.m. game against the Mountaineers of Appalachian State. UNCG will stay home and host Davidson in a 3 p.m. matchup.