GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Furman's women's basketball team returns to action on Saturday when it plays host to Chattanooga in a 2:00 p.m. contest at Timmons Arena.

The ESPN+ streamed contest, sponsored by Hale's Jewelers, will represent women's basketball's first annual Community Engagement Day featuring a number of organizations, including GirlUp GVL, Beauty Marks for Girls, Public Education Partners, Freedom Fighters, and Furman's Heller Service Corps.  The organization with the highest attendance will receive a personal donation from head coach Jackie Carson.

Furman (9-10, 1-3 SoCon), which is looking for their first home league victory of the season, dropped a 64-56 home verdict to East Tennessee State on Thursday. The Paladins, led by junior forward Sydney James' 20-point, 10-rebound performance, saw a 10-point third quarter lead erased with a 16-0 run by the Buccaneers, who halted Furman's seven-game series winning streak.

Graduate forward Grace van Rij leads Furman in scoring (12.9 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg).  Guard Jaelyn Acker (12.3 ppg) ranks second among league freshmen in scoring.

Chattanooga (10-9, 2-2 SoCon) fell at Wofford on Thursday, 64-51.

The Mocs are under the direction of former Paladin assistant coach Shawn Poppie, now in his first season.  Poppie spent three years at Furman (2013-15) as an assistant coach under Carson, his final season as associate head coach.

UTC is paced by graduate guard Yazz Wazeerud-Din, who is averaging 16.2 ppg.  Freshman forward Raven Thompson is tallying 14.2 ppg, and graduate forward Abbey Cornelius rounds out the Mocs' double-digit scoring trio (11.1 ppg).

Furman, which sports a five-game series winning streak versus Chattanooga, won all three meetings a year ago, including a 70-63 overtime decision in SoCon Tournament play.  Paladin guard Tate Walters' 26-point performance in that contest proved to be the difference, but she is sidelined this season after sustaining a torn Achilles tendon in preseason practice.

The Paladins posted a 63-50 win over the Mocs in Greenville a year ago.