GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Furman's women's basketball squad returns home on Saturday to take on Coastal Carolina in a 2:00 p.m. matchup at Timmons Arena.

The game will be live streamed via ESPN+, and fans may also follow the action through StatBroadcast.com live stats, with links to both available on furmanpaladins.com.

Furman (2-1) split a pair of road games over the past week, falling to Georgia Tech on Saturday and rebounding on Tuesday to defeat Charleston Southern, 71-68, on the strength of a 30-point third quarter that erased an eight-point halftime deficit.

Coastal Carolina (1-2) collected its first win of the 2023-24 season in its last outing, beating South Carolina State, 73-61, on Wednesday in Orangeburg after falling to Duke and Georgia Tech.

The Chanticleers knocked off the Paladins, 69-54, last year in Conway, for a rare win in the series that Furman leads, 17-3.  Coastal Carolina is 0-11 versus Furman in Greenville.

Evident in the early going is the improvement of Paladin junior forward Jada Session (18.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg), who has registered scoring performances of 16, 20, and 19 points in Furman's first three games under first-year head coach Pierre Curtis.  A year ago the 6-foot-1 Paladin averaged 8.3 ppg and 7.9 rpg in her first season as a starter.

The return of guards Tate Walters (16.5 ppg) and Niveya Henley (9.0 ppg) after sitting out the 2022-23 campaign due to injuries has also provided a big lift.  Walters rang the bell for a game high 21 points in the 71-61 win over UNC Asheville and chipped in 12 in the win over Charleston Southern.  Henley, meanwhile, dialed up an 18-point, eight-rebound performance against UNCA.

The strong play of wing Sydney James (6.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg) proved pivotal against Charleston Southern, as she contributed 14 points, including 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range, after totaling just four points in the Paladins' first two outings. 

Junior forward Kate Johnson (8.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg) appears poised to be a key contributor in Furman's inside game this year.

Saturday's contest against Coastal Carolina will be followed by a Monday 7:00 p.m. contest.  The Paladins will then travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to face Appalachian State (Nov. 23) and Binghamton (Nov. 25) in the Thanksgiving Classic.