January 5, 2004

WAKE DOUBLES UP IN FURMAN WIN OVER WOFFORD

SPARTANBURG, South Carolina -- Furman senior Orion Wake recorded her second consecutive double-double Monday night, grabbing 13 rebounds and scoring 12 points as Furman defeated Wofford 70-40 in the Benjamin Johnson Arena on the campus of Wofford College.

The Lady Paladins jumped out to an early lead in a game that was defined by 44 personal fouls and 45 total attempted free throws. Furman took a 9-0 lead before Nakia Mister put the Terriers on the board with a layup at the 16:23 mark. Though Wofford was on the board Furman continued to force the pace of the game and the Lady Paladins led by 32-21 at the half.

In the second period the Lady Paladins scored first again, as an Orion Wake layup pushed the Furman lead to 13, 34-21. The Lady Paladins extended their second half advantage to as many as 32 when freshman Elizabeth Sorensen hit the first three-pointer of her career with 2:49 left in the game. Over the final 2:49 Furman was held scoreless, but Wofford managed only one field goal, a jumper with 20 seconds left to play.

In addition to Wake’s double-double guard Tommi Paris poured in 14 points while Mivvi Strickland corraled seven rebounds and Jen Nadalin led the bench with six points. The Terriers were paced on the night by Brie Bradshaw, who scored 18, while Nakia Mister added eight. Furman outrebounded Wofford 47-27 and forced 20 Terrier turnovers on the night.

“Orion is playing very well,” said coach Sam Dixon after the victory. “She has been rebounding well and now she is starting to finish a little better. When you sit out for a year it takes a little time to get your game legs back and she is slowly doing that and I think it is going to help our basketball team down the line.”

With the win Furman improves to 5-6 overall and 2-2 in the Southern Conference while Wofford falls to 0-13 overall and 0-7 in the league. The Lady Paladins will host the Catamounts of Western Carolina on Wednesday, Jan. 7, in a 7 p.m. game.