GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Kaitlin Murphy's free throw with 59 seconds remaining broke a tie ball game and  helped Furman hold off Charleston Southern, 71-70, in women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.

After Charleston Southern's Kiki Rutledge delivered a layup to forge a 70-70 tie with 1:29 remaining, Murphy drew a foul and went to the free throw line, where she converted the second of two attempts to put the Paladins ahead, 71-70, with just under a minute to play.

The Buccaneers turned the ball over on the ensuing possession but had another chance following a Furman miss.  CSU's Lakeitha Alston, however, was whistled for an offensive foul with five seconds to go, and the Buccaneers couldn't manage a quality shot following a pair of missed Furman free throws with two seconds remaining in the game.

The win was the third straight for Furman (4-2) and 13th consecutive triumph in its series with Charleston Southern (3-6).

Kelly O'Connor paced the Paladins' attack with 18 points, and Kendra Berry recorded her second consecutive double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  The senior forward also earned a career high five assists.  Murphy tallied 11 points, and freshman Martha Robinson rounded out Furman's double figure scoring effort with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Laykyn Ledford topped all rebounders with 12 caroms, helping Furman forge a 51-40 advantage on the boards.  The Paladins' strong rebounding effort helped overcome the Buccaneers' shooting advantage as the Charleston Southern converted 44.3 percent from the field (27x61), including 16-of-29 (55.2 percent) in the second half.

Katie Tull's 24 game high 24 points, including 16 over the game's final 20 minutes, led Charleston Southern, and Alston added 21.

Furman erased an early 4-1 deficit with a 16-0 run to take an 17-4 lead on an O'Connor 3-pointer eight minutes into the contest.

The Paladins led 38-27 at halftime and stretched the advantage to 14 on a Murphy jump shot that make it 42-28 a little over a minute into the second half.

A 7-0 spurt by CSU cut it 42-35 following a layup by Helen Terry at the 16:18 mark, after which Furman's lead varied between four and nine points until six minutes to go when an Alston jumper pulled the Buccaneers to within two, 63-61.

CSU remained within striking distance the rest of the way and got within a point at 69-68 on a Tull layup with 2:44 to go.  A Murphy free throw made it 70-68, which CSU answered with a game tying layup by Rutledge with a minute and half to go in the game.

Furman wraps up its four-game homestand Tuesday evening when it entertains Erskine in a 7:00 p.m. game at Timmons Arena.