Box Score Greenville, S.C. – Le'Jzae Davidson scored 18 points to pace four Paladins in double figures as the Furman women's basketball team topped the Samford Bulldogs, 77-69, in Southern Conference action Saturday afternoon at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in downtown Greenville.

The victory improved the Paladins to 11-5 overall and 2-0 in league play, while Samford fell to 6-11 overall and 1-1 in the SoCon.

Davidson connected on 5-of-9 attempts from the floor, including three 3-pointers, and 5-of-8 trips to the charity stripe to post her game-high 18 points. Tierra Hodges tallied her fifth straight double-double, and team-leading ninth of the season, with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Taylor Petty and Milica Manojlovic rounded out the Paladins' double figure scorers with 15 and 12 points, respectively. With her 15 points, Petty became the 24^th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. Manojlovic dished out a career-best nine assists.

Celena Taborn matched her career-high of five blocks, tying her for sixth-most in a game in school history.

Sarah Myers led the Bulldogs with 16 points and eight rebounds. Natalie Armstrong contributed 14 points and Paige Serup 11. Charity Brown dished out a team-high seven assists.

Furman used an 8-0 run over a stretch of nearly two minutes at the end of the first quarter to build a 23-14 lead after Davidson connected on a pair of free throws. After Samford cut their deficit down to nine points to begin the second quarter, the Paladins would score seven of the next 10 points to take a 32-19 lead at the 4:27 mark on a layup by Petty. The Bulldogs responded with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes and trailed 32-29 with 1:52 remaining. Furman led 36-31 at halftime.

The Paladins opened the second half on an 11-3 run and extended their lead out to 47-34 with 7:39 to go after Davidson's 3-pointer. Leading 47-38 at the 5:53 mark, Furman outscored Samford 10-2 over a run of 2:40 and held its largest lead of the game, 57-40, with 2:43 remaining on a layup by Hodges. The Paladins led by double digits for nearly 11 minutes before the Bulldogs cut the lead to 66-58 with 4:24 left in the game. Samford got as close as five points, 68-63, at the 2:48 mark. Furman closed out the game at the free throw line, scoring its final nine points over the final 2:14. Hodges' two free throws with 21 seconds to go put the final score at 77-69.

The Paladins concluded the game shooting 47.2 percent (25-of-53) from the field and held a 40-39 advantage in rebounds. Furman led 32-22 in points in the paint, 15-13 in points off turnovers and 10-2 in fast break points.

The Paladins return to action on Thursday, January 16 when they travel to Johnson City, Tenn. to face East Tennessee State at 7 p.m.