College of Charleston
Furman
Paladins Survive Cougars, Take 61-56 Win
11/30/2010 1:54:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Furman connected on six of eight free throws the final minute-and-a-half, including five from Kelly O'Connor, to keep the Cougars at bay and take the 61-56 win in Southern Conference women's basketball action over the College of Charleston tonight in front of 318 fans at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C.
Furman (3-2, 1-0) built as much as a 10-point lead in the second half (43-33 with 10:38 remaining) but the Cougars (2-5, 0-1) clawed back, outscoring the Paladins, 9-2, over the next four minutes to cut the margin to three with 6:38 to go. Ariel Hatcher (Detroit, Mich.) led the effort with six during the stretch, including the run's final four points. The three-point margin was short-lived as O'Connor hit a three-pointer at 5:37 to take the lead back up to six.
After a back and forth battle, Furman found itself up by six again with just under a minute to go before Janae Smith (Matteson, Ill.) hit her first career three-pointer at the 48 second mark to cut the margin back to three. Furman went to the line six times the last 48 seconds and connected on four of those free throws, preventing the Cougars from getting any closer than three and the final outcome was the 61-56 decision.
Charleston led Furman, 20-15, with 7:43 remaining in the first half in part to seven straight points by Megan Fischer (Hoffman Estates, Ill.), including a three-pointer at 8:13. The Cougars would only score one basket the remainder of the half as Furman exploded in a 14-2 run that saw the Paladins go into the locker room with a seven point, 29-22 lead. From 13:04 to the 5:55 mark Furman didn't score a basket but connected on nine straight free throws to stage its comeback.
Smith led the Cougars with a career-high 17 points, followed by 13 from Gerty and 11 from Hatcher. Smith almost posted her first double-double with a team-leading nine rebounds. Kaitlin Murphy led Furman with 16 points, with Kendra Berry pacing the team in rebounds with 11, as part of her double-double with 12 points. Lakyn Ledford also had a double-double for the Paladins with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Charleston shot 30.8 percent from the field, compared to 29.5 for Furman. With 30 fouls by the Cougars, the Paladins went to the line 48 times, connecting on 33 free throws. Charleston was 14-of-23 from the charity stripe. Furman out-rebounded Charleston 51-38, but had six more turnovers, 20-14.
"I was very pleased with the game overall," said head coach Nancy Wilson. "It was extremely competitive. Unfortunately, we're still at the phase sometimes where we beat ourselves. We put Furman on the line too often. We've got some young people playing aggressively and making some youthful mistakes and trying too hard to make up for it by forcing some shots, things like that. We've got to start putting the ball in the basket more consistently."
With a jumper at 10:35 in the first half Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) became the 24th player overall and the ninth in Charleston's NCAA history to reach 1,000 career points.
Charleston next returns home for three games beginning Dec. 1 when the Cougars host UNC Pembroke at 7 p.m. at the Carolina First Arena. For ticket information visit www.CofCSports.com or call the ticket office at 843.953.CofC (2632).
