Greenville, S.C. – The Furman women's basketball team outscored the Western Carolina Catamounts 25-11 in the first quarter on Saturday afternoon as the Paladins earned a 69-53 victory over the Catamounts in SoCon action from Timmons Arena.

Furman improves to 13-7 overall and 4-2 in the conference while Western Carolina drops to 3-17 on the season and 0-5 in league play.

Le'Jzae Davidson and Taylor Petty led the Paladins offensively with 13 points apiece. Tierra Hodges recorded her team-leading 10^th double-double of the season after finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Making her first career start, Grace van Rij contributed seven points and a career-high five rebounds. Milica Manojlovic dished out three assists.

Lauren LaPlant and Andrea Martin Ruiz both scored a team-high 13 points for the Catamounts. Jewel Smalls posted nine points and four assists while Judith Martin Ruiz tallied eight points and six rebounds.

The 25 first quarter points compiled by Furman, who led wire-to-wire in the contest, marked the most points it has scored in the opening period this season. Petty scored nine of her 13 points in the first quarter as the Paladins opened the game on a 15-2 run. After Western Carolina cut its deficit down to nine points, Furman closed out the quarter on a 7-2 run to lead 25-11 after Jarya Outten's jumper.

The Paladins led by double figures throughout the entire second quarter and built their lead out to 17 points, 30-13, with 7:33 remaining on Davidson's 3-pointer. Tyah Hunter gave Furman its largest lead of the game, 36-18, at the 3:55 mark with her layup. The Catamounts outscored the Paladins 6-2 over the final 2:27 of the first half. Furman led 39-26 at intermission.

Western Carolina went on an 8-3 run to begin the second half and trimmed its deficit down to 42-34 with 4:27 to go. Furman would extend its lead back to 10 points twice over a stretch of 1:18 with last coming at 50-40 at the 1:01 mark on a 3-pointer from Manojlovic. A free throw by Petty with nine seconds left gave the Paladins a 51-42 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

Furman limited the Catamounts to just 3-of-9 shooting in the final period and used a 7-1 start to jump out to a 58-43 lead after Davidson's 3-pointer. Manojlovic kept the Paladins in front by 15 points, 60-45, with 6:37 left following her layup. Western Carolina got as close as 11 points twice with the last coming at 64-53 with 1:27 remaining. Furman scored the game's final five points to secure the 69-53 victory.

The Paladins concluded the game shooting 22-of-51 (43.1 percent) from the field and held the Catamounts to 2-of-17 (11.8 percent) behind the 3-point line. Furman held a 41-26 advantage in rebounds. The Paladins also led in points off turnovers (15-13) and second chance points (15-6).

Furman closes out its three-game homestand on Monday evening at 7 p.m. against Bob Jones.