GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Kaila'Shea Menendez scored a game high 23 points, including all seven of her squad's tally in overtime, to power Western Carolina to a 51-48 win over Furman in Southern Conference women's basketball play Monday evening at Timmons Arena.

The win was the fourth straight for Western Carolina (11-14, 6-10 SoCon) and earned the Catamounts the season split with Furman (12-12, 8-7 SoCon).

A Raegan Thompson 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining in regulation gave the Paladins a 44-42 lead, their first of the evening, but Western Carolina answered behind Alex Abraham, who was fouled after collecting a Menendez miss and sent to free throw line, where she drained a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining to tie the game at 44-44.

Furman turned the ball over on its final possession, leading to extra frame, where Menendez was the difference.

The Catamount senior guard canned a pair of free throws two minutes into overtime to put WCU up 46-44.  She delivered 10-foot jump shot in the lane to break a 46-46 deadlock with 1:22 to go, and later pushed the advantage to 50-46 with two more free throws with 18 seconds remaining.

Furman cut it to 50-48 with a Lashana Booker layup, but Western Carolina got the ball Menendez in the backcourt on the ensuing possession, and she finished off her performance with a final free throw with seven seconds left.

Thompson's pressured 3-pointer from the deep right wing bounced short off the rim as time expired.

In accounting for almost half of her team's scoring tally, Menendez canned 7-of-16 shots, including 2-of-3 3-pointers, and 7-of-8 free throws.

Furman was paced by Brittany Hodges' 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Western Carolina managed to win the game despite scoring just 15 points and converting only 4-of-22 shots in the second half.  Solid rebounding, however, made up for WCU's lack of offense as the Catamounts forged a 39-35 advantage on the boards, including a decisive 21-13 margin on the offensive glass.

Western Carolina also harried Furman into 26 turnovers.

The Paladins shot 34.1 percent from the field to the Catamounts' 29.3 percent but ultimately could not overcome a poor first half that saw WCU take a 29-17 lead into intermission.

Makensey Campbell's jump shot with 8:56 to go gave Western Carolina a 39-29 lead.

Furman clawed back with a 12-3 run over the next eight minutes to close to within one at 42-41 following a pair of Teshia Griswold free throws with 59 seconds showing on the clock.  After a WCU miss and following a timeout, Griswold hit Thompson with a pass at the top of the circle, and her 3-ball rattled home to give the Paladins a 44-42 advantage.

The Paladins play host Samford on Saturday in a 4:00 p.m. game at Timmons Arena.