The College of Charleston women's basketball team ended their season with a 64-59 loss to Furman in the first round of the Southern Conference Championship at the North Charleston Coliseum before 529 in North Charleston, S.C.
The Paladins improved to 11-19 and will play Western Carolina at 11 a.m. on Wednesday. The Cougars closed out the 2007 season 10-20.
Furman led by as many as 15 in the second half as Charleston struggled offensively, but the Cougars got to within three at the :09 mark on a four point play from Jill Furstenburg. Furman's Adrienne Gilmore's lay-up with five seconds left sealed the win for the Paladins.
For the game, Charleston shot 23-of-58 from the field, and Furman was 20-of-50.
The Paladins jumped to an early 7-0 lead to begin the first half, before the Cougars' Jade Hughes hit a short jumper with 17:17 left in the half.
Nikki Williams opened a Charleston run at the 10:58 mark as the Cougars rattled off nine straight points over the next five minutes to knot the game 16-all. The Paladins would close out thee first half on a 12-4 run for the 28-20 halftime lead.
The College of Charleston was 9-for-29 from the field, while Furman hit 10-of-27 of its shots. The Cougars out-rebounded the Paladins 23-15 in the first half.
Williams joined Furman's Chrissy Phelps to lead all scorers with 14 points. Furstenburg followed Williams with 13, and Hughes had 11. Deidra Jones pulled down a game-high 12 boards for the Cougars, who out-rebounded the Paladins 41-27.
