GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Le'Jzae Davidson drained two free throws with eight seconds remaining and Celena Taborn delivered 19 points and 18 rebounds in her first collegiate start to help Furman clip Chattanooga, 58-57, in Southern Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.

The victory improved Furman to 12-8 overall and 3-3 in SoCon play while the loss dropped Chattanooga to 12-7 overall and 3-2 in league action.

With the scored tied 56-56, Davidson drew an off-ball foul to get to the line, where she drained both opportunities with eight seconds remaining to put the Paladins up 58-56.

Following a timeout UTC's Keiana Gilbert drove across the lane and got the whistle on her shot, which was blocked by Furman's Kaitlyn Duncan with four seconds to go.  Gilbert missed her first free throw but made her second attempt to pull the Mocs to within 58-57.

Coming out of a timeout, the Paladins inbounded the ball to Davidson, who was fouled in the back court with two seconds on the clock.  Davidson missed both free throws, but Taborn collected the rebound off the second miss to run out the clock.

"I can't remember the last time we've beaten Chattanooga back-to-back here in Greenville because that's a stroried program in our conference with a great coach in Jim Foster and tremendous players," said Furman head coach Jackie Carson.  "That said, I'm very proud of our girls for being able to close out the game, which we had struggled to do our last two outings.  Celena did an outstanding job in her first career start. She's taken advantage of the opportunity she's been given and is making the most of it.  She also had a very high ceiling and a chance to be real force in this league."

Taborn's double-double, which featured 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 7-of-11 free throws in 27 minutes of action, was her third of the season.  The 6-foot-3 freshman's 18 caroms represented a new campaign high and helped the Paladins forge a 44-37 advantage on the boards.

Davidson added 18 points and Cierra Carter contributed 11 points and eight rebounds for Furman, which used a 12-2 run to start the second period to take a 24-20 lead.

Up 32-29 at the break, Furman watched Chattanooga open the second half with a 9-2 spurt to grab a 38-34 advantage on Keiana Gilbert's jump shot.

The Mocs' Rochelle Lee put UTC up 42-27 with a basked at the 5:18 mark, but the Paladins answered with a Taborn free throw and 3-pointer by Davidson to keep it close.

It remained tight in the fourth quarter with neither team able to build anything more than a two-point advantage.

The Paladins never trailed after Carter delivered layup off a Oramas assist to knot the game at 53-53 with 2:37 to go.

Furman finished the game shooting 40.8 percent (20x49), surviving a 2-for-10 effort in the fourth quarter.  Chattanooga fared worse in the defensive struggle, shooting just 32.8 percent (22x67), including just 2-of-15 over the game's final 10 minutes.

The decided inside advantage got Furman to the free throw line, but the Paladins made just 13-of-24 free throws for a  season low 54.2 percent.

Gilbert and Lakelyn Bouldin paced UTC with 20 points apiece.

The Paladins play host to Converse on Monday at 7:00 p.m.

Hunter Reid, Furman Sports Information