Lexington, K.Y. – Tate Walters led the Furman women's basketball team with 14 points as the Paladins began play at the Women's Basketball Invitational falling 82-61 to the Bowling Green Falcons at the Clive M. Beck Center.
Furman drops to 19-13 on the season while Bowling Green improves to 16-15 overall.
Tierra Hodges contributed her 21st double-double of the season, and 53rd of her career, after finishing with 13 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Walters connected on three 3-pointers while dishing out seven assists to go with three steals. Grace van Rij had 11 points, six rebounds and three assists. Evie DePetro came off the bench to score eight points in 10 minutes.
The Falcons were led offensively by Morgan Sharps with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting, and 6-of-13 behind the 3-point line, and Madisen Parker provided 12. Amy Velasco and Kadie Hempfling compiled 11 points each. Jocelyn Tate pulled down seven rebounds and Nyla Hampton had four steals.
The Paladins made their first three field goal attempts and took an 8-0 lead just over two minutes into the contest when Niveya Henley connected on a pair of free throws. Furman maintained its eight-point advantage two more times during the first quarter with the last coming at 13-5 with 5:28 to go on Hodges' jumper.
Bowling Green closed out the quarter on a 14-1 run and built its lead out to 25-14 in the second. The Paladins cut their deficit down to five, 25-20, at the 7:09 mark on a layup from van Rij. The Falcons scored the final 11 points to lead 41-23 at halftime.
Furman got as close as 12 points early in the third quarter when van Rij's layup with 7:15 remaining made the score 41-29. Hodges put the Paladins down 57-44 to begin the fourth quarter before Bowling Green answered with a 17-0 run to lead 74-44 with 6:10 to go. The Falcons were 64.3 percent (9-of-14) shooting in the final period and made four of their seven 3-pointers.
DePetro and Kate Johnson recorded the game's last three points to put the final score at 82-61.
Furman concluded the game shooting 38.9 percent from the field.
The Paladins move to the consolation bracket of the Women's Basketball Invitational and will play Austin Peay at 12 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
Fans can follow the action on www.furmanpaladins.com via live stats. The game is being streamed via paid subscription on Prepspin. Tickets will be available at the door and can be purchased for $20 per day. For more information and further updates, visit the official website at www.womensbasketballinvitational.com and on Twitter (@PostseasonWBI).
