GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Whitney Hood poured in a game high 25 points and Chattanooga rode a quick start on the way to an 83-65 Southern Conference victory over Furman in women's basketball action Monday evening at Timmons Arena.

The win marked the 20th consecutive triumph by UTC (12-12, 9-6 SoCon) over Furman (9-14, 5-9 SoCon) since 2002.

Hood, a junior who found the range on 8-of-12 shots, converted the game's first two baskets to spark Chattanooga (12-12, 9-6 SoCon) to an 11-0 lead, and the UTC forward later added three more deuces to help stake the Mocs to a 27-8 advantage eight minutes into the contest.

Kayla Christopher also contributed to Chattanooga's early punch, scoring eight points over the game's first eight minutes en route to UTC's 19-point advantage.  The sophomore guard hit the mark on 9-of-16 shots in the contest, including 4-of-7 3-pointers, on the way to a 22-point performance.

Furman was led by Kaitlin Murphy with 17 points.  Raegan Thompson added 14 points, Kelly O'Connor  11 points, and Kendra Berry rounded out the Paladins' double figure scoring effort with 10 points.

The Paladins cut the lead to 39-29 on a Brooke Keeton layup with 18 seconds to go in the first half, but after a timeout Chattanooga responded with a Tenisha Townsend 3-pointer from the right wing for a 42-29 lead at intermission.

In the second half Furman managed to trim UTC's advantage to eight points on three occasions, but Christoper doused the last two Paladin runs with 3-pointers, including a trey with 15:14 remaining that pushed the Mocs' lead to 51-43.

After a layup by Furman's Martha Robinson cut UTC's advantage to 54-45, the Mocs put the game on ice with a 9-0 spurt featuring a 3-pointer by Christopher and three baskets by Hood, with her last giving the Mocs a commanding 63-45 advantage with 12:19 to go.

Chattanooga, which drained 11 of its first 15 shots (73.3 percent) on the way to its 27-8 lead, finished the game shooting 47.9 percent from the field, converting 34-of-71 shots, including 10-of-27 from beyond the arc.

Furman made just 31.8 percent from the field (21-of-66), including 8-of-24 from 3-point range.

The two teams battled to a 43-43 draw on the boards with UTC's Bailey Dewart grabbing a game high 11 caroms.  Thompson led Furman with eight rebounds to go along five assists.

The Paladins play host to Davidson on Wednesday in a 7:00 p.m. game.

Pictured:  Raegan Thompson