ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- UNC Asheville's Paige Love drained a running shot from beyond half court as the time expired to deliver a 68-65 season opening win over Furman in women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Kimmel Arena.

Love's dramatic shot came after Furman's Holli Wilkins missed a 15-foot jumper with four seconds remaining. The Bulldogs' Brittany Gwyn claimed the rebound and handed it off to Love, who dribbled twice and let fly with the shot, which hit the backboard and through net as the buzzer sounded.

Furman (0-1) had battled back from a 65-61 deficit to tie the game following a layup by Brittany Hodges at the two-minute mark and two free throws by Wilkins with 1:35 to go.

UNCA misfired on its next three shots, and the Paladins also failed to connect on three opportunities before the Gwyn corraled Wilkins' miss to set up Love's game winner.

The Paladins led by as many as six in the first half after Allison Beasley's 3-pointer at the 4:03 mark put the Paladins up 28-22, but UNCA closed with a 12-2 run to go into intermission with a 34-30 advantage.

UNCA extended its margin to 10 points at 46-36 following a layup by Tianna Knuckles five minutes into the second half before Furman rallied with a 15-0 run over the next four minutes to claim a 51-46 lead following a Shianne Goodwin free throw.

Furrman led 61-55 with 4:30 to go, but a Gwyn jump shot, layup by Love, and six straight free throws keyed a 10-0 spurt that gave the Bulldogs a 65-61 lead with 2:13 showing on the clock.

Gwyn led all scorers with 19 points, and Shonese Jones finished with 14 and Love 12.

Wilkins topped Furman with 16 points and seven rebounds.  Four Paladins registered eight points, including Beasley, Goodwin, Whitney Bunn, and Erica Norwood.

The Paladins shot 34.8 percent (24-of-69) from the field and connected on just 11-of-20 free throws.  UNCA canned just 22-of-65 field goal attempts (33.8 percent), but outscored Furman by seven points at the free throw line by draining 18-of-23 charity striple chances.