January 23, 1999
GREENVILLE, South Carolina -- For the first time since Georgia Southern joined the Southern Conference in 1992-93, Furman's Lady Paladin basketball team completed a two-game regular season sweep of the Eagles with a 70-58 victory at Timmons Arena on Saturday. The Lady Paladins defeated GSU 84-74 in Statesboro earlier this season.
Furman junior Jackie Smith, the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Year, topped the 30-point mark for the third time this season, with 32 points on 10-of-16 from the field, one-of-three from three point range, and 11-of-12 from the line. In addition, Smith claimed a team-high 10 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season.
Georgia Southern won the opening tip and scored less than one minute into the game on a Sharon Mitchell layup, but the Eagles only lead of the day was short lived as Furman responded with a Heidi White three-pointer at 18:33. Though the game was tied 5-5 at 15:56 and 10-10 at 11:56, the Lady Paladins led by 11, 34-23 at the half after shooting 44% from the field and 80% from three-point range in the first period.
In the second half, Furman extended its lead to 13 in the opening seconds and led by 12 with 7:53 to go. An 11-6 run by the Eagles cut the margin to seven, 60-53 with 2:58 to go, but the Lady Paladins made four of five free throws in the last 1:25 to earn the 12-point victory.
In addition to Smith's 32 points, senior guard Heidi White added 14 and dished off seven of the Paladins' 18 assists, while sophomore Amy King added 12 points and claimed five rebounds. Furman shot 48.3% for the game and 75% from the free throw line.
Junior Sharon Mitchell topped the Eagle effort with 15 points, while senior guard Rosie Arnold added 14 and Danna Simpson tallied 10. With the victory, the Lady Paladins improve to 10-8 overall and 7-3 in the conference, while GSU falls to 8-10 on the year and 7-3 in the league. Furman and Georgia Southern are now tied for second in the Southern Conference standings, behind the 8-2 Spartans of UNC Greensboro.