Postgame Interviews And Highlights Video

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Brittany Hodges scored 30 points and claimed 13 rebounds to help Furman down UNC Asheville, 81-71, in women's basketball action Wednesday evening at Timmons Arena.

The win, Furman's fourth straight and 18th in its last 20 home games, improves the Paladins to 8-3 on the season while UNC Asheville falls to 2-6 on the campaign.

Hodges, the Southern Conference's Preseason Player of the Year, had her way against the Bulldogs in notching the second 30-point performance of her career, canning 12-of-18 shots and 6-of-9 free throws in 32 minutes of action.  The 13 rebounds marked her 27th career double-double.

Whitney Bunn, the SoCon's reigning player of the week, failed to score in the first half, playing only 10 minutes due to two early fouls.  She hit the gas in the second half, however, tallying 17 points to go along five of her game high six assists to key Furman to a pair of 19-point leads.

Holli Wilkins rounded out Furman's double figure scoring effort with 11 points.

UNC Asheville was paced by a pair of 16-point performances from Tianna Knuckles and Tiffany Wilson, and Brittany Gwyn added 10 points for the Bulldogs.

UNCA raced to an early 13-4 advantage before Furman rallied with an 11-0 run to take the lead on a Hodges layup nine minutes into the game.

The Paladins never trailed from then on and took a 33-23 lead into intermission.

Furman maintained its double-digit advantage the entire second half, extending it to 70-51 on another Hodges layup with 3:56 remaining.

The Paladins led 75-57 with 1:37 remaining when UNCA used aggressive play to force three Paladin turnovers that fueled a 9-2 spurt, allowing the Bulldogs to get within 11 at 77-66 with 37 seconds left.

Matters got testy on the court 16 seconds later, leading to a pair of technical fouls being assessed to players from both teams and three ejections, which claimed Furman's Sarah Durdaller, and UNC Asheville's Leah Wormack and Ja'Da Brayboy — both of whom were cited for leaving the bench area.

Furman's Kelsey Ellis drained both technical foul free throws for Furman, but the Bulldogs' made just 3-of-6 free throw chances following the dust-up, allowing the Paladins to maintain their double digit margin.

Furman shot 45.3 percent from the field (29-of-64) and dominated the boards, posting a 47-31 rebounding advantage.

The Paladins wrap up their season long, five-game homestand on Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. contest versus Southern Wesleyan.

Hunter Reid, Furman Sports Information