January 27, 2003

FURMAN DROPS TO THIRD WITH 77-64 LOSS TO WESTERN CAROLINA

GREENVILLE, South Carolina -- Furman¹s Lady Paladin basketball team fell to third in the Southern Conference standings Monday night after dropping a 77-64 decision to the Catamounts of Western Carolina in Timmons Arena.

Furman fell behind quickly as the Catamounts connected on three early three-pointers to take a 17-4 lead with 14:15 left in the period. Another three pointer by Melissa Ervin at the 12:17 mark gave Western Carolina a 20-7 advantage, but the Cats did not score another field goal until 2:53 left in the half. Despite the drought, WCU was able to hold onto a lead of at least five points for the remainder of the half, and led 39-28 at the break. The Lady Paladins not only suffered through 27.8% field goal shooting in the first half, but hit just 37.5% of their free throws, despite a 69.5% season average. Conversely, the Catamounts connected on 54.5% of their first-half field goals and 60.0% of their free shots.

The second period saw WCU stretch its lead to 13 on a Yoneko Allen layup at the 17:23 mark, but a steady Furman effort cut the Catamount advantage to seven on a Laney Harris three-pointer at the 10:42 mark. Three minutes later (6:58) a Deshara Shealey field goal plus a free throw tied the score at 57 and it looked like Furman would complete the comeback, but WCU went on a 12-0 run to put the game out of reach.

The Lady Paladins were paced on the night by Laney Harris, who totaled 13 points, while Lauren Few added 12. Sophomore Katie Roach socred a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Deshara Shealey was the leading playmaker with seven assists.

The Catamounts were topped by Yoneko Allen¹s career effort of 23 points. Tiffany Hamm added 20 to the WCU total, and Ki-Ki Glass topped the team with six assists. In the end, the Cats shot 54.9% from the field and a stellar 45.5% (10-of-22) from three point range. Furman, meanwhile, managed just 31.9% from the field, 33.3 % from three-point range, and 55.6% from the line.

With the victory WCU takes over sole possession of second place in the Southern Conference and improves to 14-4 overall and 7-2 in the Southern Conference, while Furman falls to 10-8 overall and 6-3 in league play. Furman will play at UNC Greensboro on Saturday, while Western Carolina hosts Davidson in a 4 p.m. doubleheader.