Box Score Box Score (pdf)
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Wofford women's basketball team fell to Furman, 82-58, in Southern Conference action on Saturday afternoon inside Timmons Arena.
Furman (10-6, 4-1 SoCon) was led by freshman Whitney Bunn's season-high 20 points, and used a 46-28 advantage in rebounds to run away with the win. The majority of Furman's boards came from Brittany Hodges, who had 11 in the first half and finished the game with 14. Hodges completed a double-double with 12 points.
The Terriers (3-12, 1-4 SoCon) took 14 more shots in the game, but the Paladins shot 51 percent (26-51 FG) and scored 40 or more points in each half, while the Terriers struggled at 30.8 percent (20-65 FG). Wofford was successful in the turnover department with a season-low 12 to Furman's 18, generating 11 steals. Unfortunately, the shooting and rebounding margins were too much to overcome and Bunn helped Furman's bench outscore Wofford's 28-8.
Senior Logan Morris led the Terrier offense with a team-high 16 points. Morris also came away with a career-high four steals. She was joined in double figures with 13 points from sophomore Ashton Fleming and 12 from junior Lauren Kirby. The post pair each grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
Fleming got the game started off with a steal on Furman's first possession and pushed it down the court for a quick basket to give the Terriers the initial lead. The Paladins came back to score seven straight, which included the first of Ashley Beasley's three triples in the game. Wofford shared the basketball to get the score back even, as Fleming, Frazier, Morris and Kirby had all scored with the game tied 9-9.
Bunn used her defense to spark a 10-1 Furman run, stealing the ball from Chanel Stokes and finding Brigid Morrissey for a fast-break basket. Holli Wilkins nailed a triple on the next possession, the first of 14 points for the team's leading scorer, and Hodges scored the final three points of the run to put the Paladins ahead 19-10. Hodges would go on to score a dozen.
Morris buried her second trey of the game to stop the bleeding and Kirby followed up on the next Terrier possession with a layup. It cut the margin to 21-15 with 9:30 left in the opening half.
It was as close as the game would be the rest of the way. Hodges scored six of Furman's next 10 points to put the Paladins ahead 31-19, and the Terriers had some open shot opportunities slip by the wayside. Head coach Edgar Farmer burned a timeout with Wofford down 13, its largest deficit of the half, and Wilkins gave Furman some momentum heading into halftime, scoring a basket with six ticks remaining.
At the half, Wofford trailed 42-30, allowing its second-most first-half points of the season. On the positive side, the Terriers reached the 30-point plateau at the break for just the second time and had turned the ball over just five times to Furman's nine; however, Furman's 26-15 rebounding edge and 55.6 percent shooting had the Paladins comfortably ahead.
Hodges had already posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds at the intermission. Wilkins had scored 11 as well, and Morris led Wofford with 10 points. Bunn had eight of her 20.
Furman got the second half off to a 5-0 start, scoring all five from the free throw line. Kirby picked up two fouls in the first minute and Wofford had already committed five fouls at the 16:58 mark. It was not until Aliyah Johnson made a lay-in four and a half minutes in that Wofford got its first field goal of the second half, but Furman had already done some damage ahead by 18.
Morrissey made it a 20-point Furman lead, 54-34, sinking a pair of free throws after Morris picked up Wofford's sixth foul of the half. The Paladins then pushed it to 28 as Bunn was good from long range, which forced the Terriers to take a timeout, facing their largest deficit, 71-43, with 6:15 remaining.
The Terriers cut the gap to as little as 19 as Fleming went to work and scored nine of Wofford's final 11 points of the afternoon. Fleming got it going with a layup and a foul. Freshman Maria Corella made a long two from the right baseline – her foot just over the arc – following the Fleming 3-point play, and the sophomore guard scored the final seven Terrier points to close out the game.
The Wofford women's basketball team has a week away from game action before facing Chattanooga next Saturday. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m., from McKenzie Arena.
Terrier Notes
- Logan Morris scored a team-high 16 points, posting her seventh double-figure game of the season and marking the third time she has led the Terriers in scoring.
- Morris came away with a career-high four steals.
- Ashton Fleming scored a career-high 13 points and was in double figures for the fourth time this year.
- Lauren Kirby scored 12 points and was in double figures for the fifth time this season.
- Wofford's 12 turnovers marked a season low.
- Wofford came away with double-figure steals for the first time since Dec. 14 against Gardner-Webb.
- Furman improves to 35-7 all-time against the Terriers.
