GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Whitney Bunn scored a career high 27 points and Furman used accurate outside shooting to beat Winthrop, 71-52, in women's basketball action Tuesday evening at Timmons Arena.

Bunn, a 5-foot-7 junior All-Southern Conference point guard, converted 10-of-15 shots and headlined the Paladins' 14-for-31 shooting from beyond the arc by draining 6-of-9 treys to help deliver Furman (4-1) its fourth consecutive victory.  The Bunn, N.C., product also tacked on eight assists, five rebounds, and two blocks in 37 minutes of action.  The 27 points topped her previous career high of 26 registered in an 84-79 victory over Appalachian State last year.

Teammate Cierra Carter also registered a new career high with 17 points to go along with 10 rebounds, and Holli Wilkins rounded out the Paladins' double figure scorers with 11 points.

Winthrop (0-5) was paced by Erica Williams' 12 points and Aliyah Kilpatrick's 10 points.  The Eagles shot only 26.0 percent in the contest, making just 19-of-72 attempts and only 3-of-19 from 3-point range.  The poor shooting helped nullify Winthrop's 52-42 edge in rebounding, including a 26-10 margin on the offensive glass.

The Paladins trailed only once, in the first two minutes of the game, but quickly erased it by connecting on 3-pointers on its first three baskets of the game to a take a 9-4 lead on an Allison Beasley trey.

Furman's 9-for-17 work from 3-point range in the first half helped send in the Paladins into intermission with a 41-26 lead.

The Eagles managed to slice the advantage to eight points at 48-40 on a Kilpatrick three-point play with 4:16 to go in the third quarter before the Paladins closed out the period with a pair of 3-pointers from Kelsey Ellis and Bunn for a 54-40 lead.  

Furman maintained its double digit edge over the final 10 minutes, with Bunn's layup following a steal by Sydney Bozeman with 2:56 to go giving her a new career high and a 62-50 cushion.

Bunn's eight assists pushed her onto Furman's Top 10 career ledger, where she now ranks ninth with 328.

The victory marked the Paladins' 12th straight over the Eagles, who have watched Furman combine to shoot 50.0 percent (24-for-48) from 3-point range in the last meetings.

In completing its season opening five-game home stand, Furman will now play seven of its next games on the road beginning with a Nov. 29 contest at VCU followed by a Dec. 1 game at Richmond.

Hunter Reid, Furman Sports Information