January 20, 2003
Release: Upon Receipt
LADY PALADINS POUND EAST TENNESSEE STATE 86-64
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- Deshara Shealey scored a team-high 16 points and Katie Roach added 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds as Furman (9-7, 5-2) cruised by East Tennessee State (4-12, 1-6) 86-64 in women's basketball action Monday night at the Memorial Center in Johnson City, Tenn.
The Lady Paladins' zone defense limited ETSUıs outside shooting efforts, as the Lady Bucs went 0-of-12 from three-point land and shot just over 36 percent from the floor. Furman connected on 4-of-8 three-point attempts and shot 53.1 percent from the field in the second half.
³I give a lot of credit to Furman,² said Buccaneer head coach Karen Kemp, ³They played zone against us all night, and we donıt have the outside shooting we have had in the past. That certainly showed tonight.²
The game started off close to even with both teams exchanging buckets for the first fifteen minutes. However, momentum went in favor of the Lady Paladins with under one minute to play in the first half on a steal by Kim Lawrence (Atlanta, Ga.) and layup by Tommi Paris (Chattanooga, Tenn.), which gave Furman an 11-point advantage. East Tennessee State trailed the Paladins 37-28 at halftime.
The Lady Bucs came out in the second half with some intensity and cut Furmanıs lead down to three points after a pair of free throws by senior forward Misty Copas (Kingsport, Tenn.). However, the Buccaneerıs engine lost some steam down the stretch as the fans watched the Lady Paladins gradually run away with the game. Furmanıs biggest lead of the contest came on a fast-break layup by Princess Wells (Marietta, Ga.) with 10 seconds remaining to give the Lady Paladins a 24-point margin.
Despite the loss, ETSU got a valiant effort out of Kiya Verdell (Hartwell, Ga.). The junior guard put up a team-best 17 points, which was only one off of tying her career-high for points in a game.
³Kiya stepped up and played hard tonight,² Kemp said. ³But we have 10 players on our team and for us to be successful we need to have all 10 of them show up and be ready to play.²
Junior forward Lauren Trantham (Asheville, N.C.) contributed on both ends of the floor by recording her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Junior forward Jesscia Lonon (Sylvania, Ga.) added 12 points and eight rebounds coming off the bench.
Furman was led by Roach (Marietta, Ga.), who tallied her first double-double of the season. The Lady Paladins boasted five other players scoring in double figures with Shealeyıs (Greenbay, Va.) 16 points leading the way. Paris netted 12 points followed by 11 from Lauren Few (Hendersonville, N.C.), while Jen Nadalin (Guelph, Ontario, Canada) and Laney Harris (Loganville, Ga.) each scored 10.
Furman returns to action when it visits the College of Charleston for a 3:00 p.m. contest on Saturday.