Greenville, S.C. – Senior Le'Jzae Davidson hit six free throws down the stretch to lead the Furman women's basketball team past the Wofford Terriers, 62-56, on Saturday afternoon in the Paladins' home finale at Timmons Arena.
The victory, which marks the third in the last four games for the Paladins (18-11, 8-6 SoCon), leaves Furman in sole possession of fourth place in the SoCon, while the Terriers (15-14, 8-6 SoCon) conclude the regular season in fifth place. The Paladins improve to 28-0 all-time at home against Wofford, dating back to the beginning of the series in 1981-82.
The Paladins will face the Terriers on Thursday, March 5, at 1:15 p.m. in the opening round of the Ingles Southern Conference Women's Basketball Championship presented by General Shale at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.
With the score tied at 49-49 with 2:46 left in the game, junior Tierra Hodges hit two free throws to give the Paladins a two-point advantage. Davidson then nailed a three-pointer with under two minutes left to stretch the lead to 54-49 before making the first of her six free throws with 1:11 left in the game. Consecutive 3-pointers by the Terriers cut the deficit to one, 56-55, with just 24 seconds left, but Davidson and Hodges combined for six free throws over the final 20 seconds to seal the victory.
Hodges recorded a double-double, her 14th of the season, with 14 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, while senior Taylor Petty, who was honored along with Davidson during Senior Day festivities prior to the duo's final home game, added 10 points and three assists. Davidson, who ranks third on the Furman all-time scoring list with 1,729 points, finished the day with 13. Freshman Lindsey Taylor added 12 points.
Furman, who concludes the regular season with an 11-2 record in Timmons Arena, led wire-to-wire in the opening quarter before Wofford pulled ahead, 20-19, with 6:58 left in the second quarter. With the game tied at 23-23 with just under five minutes left in the first half, the Paladins put together a 10-0 run to lead 33-23 at the half. The Terriers put together a 9-0 run of their own following the break to cut the deficit to one at 33-32, but the Paladins held Wofford to just three points over the final six and a half minutes of the third quarter to lead 47-36 entering the final period.
Da'Ja Green poured in 23 points to lead the Terriers and Lilly Hatton, who tallied a team-high eight rebounds, also added eight points. Cairo Booker added 14 points for Wofford.
Furman concluded the game shooting 33.3 percent (17-of-51) from the field and held a 44-29 advantage in rebounding. The Paladins also led in points in the paint (18-14), second chance points (12-4), and bench points (20-2).
