CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Brittany Hodges scored 13 points and claimed 10 rebounds to power Furman past the College of Charleston, 60-51, in 2011-12 Southern Conference women's basketball season opening action for both teams Saturday afternoon at TD Arena.
Hodges, a 6-foot-1 freshman forward from Powder Springs, Ga., converted 6-of-11 shots and added two blocks and a pair of steals in 24 minutes of action to help Furman (4-2, 1-0 SoCon) halt a four-game losing streak to the College of Charleston (1-5, 0-1 SoCon) in Charleston.
"It was an ugly win but we'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day," said Furman head coach Jackie Carson following the game. "We started out fine but then for some reason began playing at a frantic pace, which led to a number of turnovers. I thought we settled down a bit in the second half and were able to take control of the game."
Hodges' strong play inside helped neutralize the Cougars' leading scorer, 6-foot-3 junior Latisha Harris, who tallied a game high 14 points to go along with 14 rebounds and seven blocks.
Raegan Thompson scored 12 points and claimed seven rebounds, and Kaitlin Murphy added 10 points and a game high six assists for the Paladins.
Also playing a key role in the victory was Janice Roberts, who contributed eight points, seven rebounds, and an assist. Roberts' basket, assist, and two free throws early in the second half sparked an 8-3 Furman run that extended a 32-28 lead to a 40-31 advantage following a Hodges jump shot with 11:46 to go.
The Paladins followed that with 7-2 Paladin spurt, capped by a Roberts layup with under nine minutes remaining, to stretch the margin to 47-33.
Furman's advantage reached as many as 16 points at 54-38 following a Murphy 3-pointer, Furman's only trey of the game, with 6:00 showing on the clock.
The Paladins shot 38.3 percent from the field (23-of-60) and limited the Cougars, who entered the game ranked last in the SoCon in field goal percentage, to just 19-of-74 shooting (25.7 percent). Furman also posted a 52-47 rebounding advantage.
Harris' seven blocked shots represented almost half of the 15 rejections compiled by the Cougars in the contest.
Furman continues its three-game road stretch with a Monday contest against Georgia Southern in Statesboro. Tipoff of the ESPN3 televised contest at Hanner Fieldhouse is set for 7:00 p.m.
Monday's Furman-Georgia Southern contest will also be broadcast online by StretchAudio through Furman All-Access at www.furmanpaladins.com, with Adam Hoyer Booth on the call. Live stats will be provided through www.furmanpaladins.com and in-game twitter updates available at twitter.com/FurmanPaladins
