Janaury 16, 1999

GREENVILLE, South Carolina -- Furmanıs Lady Paladin basketball team staved off a pesky Wofford squad Saturday at Timmons Arena to win a 75-65 victory in Southern Conference action.

The Lady Paladins led 29-24 at the half, but were unable to gain a double-digit lead in the second period until the final seconds, when freshman Althea Bufford made a layup off a Heidi White pass to reach the final 10-point margin.

With 5:51 to go, the hosting Lady Paladins led by just one point, thanks to a 7-2 run by the Terriers. A Kena Hodges layup at 5:24 put Furman ahead by three and the margin never dropped below three for the rest of the contest. With 2:48 to go, junior Jackie Smith sank three of four free throws on a personal foul plus a technical (on the Wofford bench), and the Lady Paladin lead stretched from five to eight. Wofford responded with a pair of free throws by Jenny Nett, but were unable to get closer than five in the last two minutes. Furmanıs offensive effort was topped by junior Jackie Smithıs 20 points, 14 of which came at the free throw line. Freshman Mary Brock tied her career-high with 18 points, 12 of which were scored in the first half. Other double-digit Furman scorers were senior Heidi White, who tallied 13 points and a team-high six assists, and sophomore Kena Hodges who tallied a team-high eight rebounds in addition to her 10 points. After turning the ball over 12 times in the first half, Furman suffered just four turnovers in the second period for 16 in the game, the Lady Paladinsı second lowest total of the season.

Wofford was led Saturday afternoon by sophomore Jenny Nett, who totaled 18 points and eight rebounds. Senior Nakita Massey also fared well with 16 points and eight boards, while junior guard Meredith Denton added 10 points.

With the win Furman improves to 8-8 on the year and 5-3 in the Southern Conference, while Wofford falls to 3-12 overall and 0-8 in league play.