GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Tierra Hodges scored 28 points and Grace van Rij followed with 19 points to lead Furman past Samford, 79-67, in Southern Conference women's basketball play Thursday evening at Timmons Arena.

The victory, the sixth in the last seven game for Furman (15-10, 8-3 SoCon), helped the Paladins solidify their hold on third place in the SoCon standings while dropping Samford (12-14, 7-5 SoCon), which had its four-game winning streak halted, squarely into fourth place after the Bulldogs had closed to within a half game of Furman.

The Paladins play host to first place Mercer on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.  Furman is the only league team to beat the Bears this year with a 69-66 triumph in Macon on Jan. 20.

Hodges' 28 points matched her career high, and did van Rij's 19-point effort.  Freshmen Niveya Henley continued her late season surge by registering a career high 14 points to round out Furman's double figure scoring effort.

Hodges also tacked on 13 rebounds to post her league leading 17th double-double of the season and 51st of her career.  The fifth-year senior entered the game ranked seventh in the nation in rebounding (11.9 rpg).

Head coach Jackie Carson's squad racked up its top shooting effort of the campaign, converting 30-of-56 shots (53.6%).

Furman fashioned one of its best starts to a game this season by racing to a 28-8 lead after the first quarter, draining 12-of-17 shots.

Samford flipped the script in the second quarter by connecting on 11-of-14 field goals to cut the Paladins' lead to 40-34 at intermission.

The Paladins took control in the third period behind van Rij and Hodges, who combined for 13 points in the frame.  A van Rij layup three minutes into the quarter put the Paladins up, 45-35, and Henley finished off the period with a 3-pointer from the left corner to give Furman a 60-46 advantage.

Samford trimmed the margin to single digits four times in the fourth quarter, but each time Furman answered.  Tate Walters' 3-pointer from the top of the circle with 2:49 remaining pushed the Paladins' lead to 71-60 and effectively put the game in the win column for Furman, which improved to 8-2 at home this year.

Andrea Cournoyer led Samford with 16 points, and Sussy Ngulefac and Mallory Hampton finished with 10 points apiece for the Bulldogs.

Hodges' big scoring night came on 11-of-18 shooting and 6-of-7 work from the free throw line.  She moved up to sixth place on Furman's career scoring chart with 1,552 points, surpassing Whitney Bunn (1,538 points, 2014-17).