January 11, 2003

GEORGIA SOUTHERN DOMINATES BOARDS TO HAND FURMAN 66-64 LOSS

GREENVILLE, South Carolina -- Furman's women's basketball team lost its first Southern Conference game of the season on Saturday when the Eagles of Georgia Southern handed the Lady Paladins a 66-64 loss at home in Timmons Arena. After a slow start that saw Furman trailing by 10 at the 12:21 mark, the Lady Paladins stormed back to take a 37-29 lead into the halftime locker room. Despite the first half turnaround, the Eagles had a nine-rebound advantage at the break, which foretold a difficult second period for the home team.

In the early minutes of the second half Furman extended its lead to 10 and managed to hold the advantage all the way until the 1:30 mark, when a Lee DuBose three-pointer gave GSU a 65-64 lead. Furman had a chance to regain the lead when Kim Lawrence got a steal with 49 seconds left, but DeShara Shealey missed on the layup and freshman Tommi Paris fouled DuBose, who sank one of two free throws to reach the final two-point margin with 19 seconds remaining. Furman had two desperation shots in the final two seconds, but neither fell and the game ended in regulation.

When the final whistle blew, the Eagles had outrebounded Furman 56-40 and outscored the Lady Paladins 22-10 on second-chance points.

³They (GSU) just exploded on us on the boards and we didn¹t get the inside play,² said coach Sam Dixon. ³But we completed hard and had chances to make good plays, we just didn¹t get it done tonight. I¹m proud of our kids though, because we played hard and lost to an excellent ballclub.²

Furman was led on the night by Shealey¹s 23 points, 14 of which were scored in the first period. In addition, Kim Lawrence added 12 and Tommi Paris contributed 11. The Eagles were paced by Mimi Lindsey and Lee DuBose, who each scored 14. Lindsey added 11 rebounds for the lone double-double of the night.

With the win, GSU improves to 10-3 overall and 4-0 in the Southern Conference, while Furman moves to 7-6 overall and 3-1 in league play. The Lady Paladins travel to Chattanooga for a Monday night game at 5:15, while Georgia Southern hosts UNC Greensboro Monday at 5:00 p.m.