2022-23 SoCon Women's Tournament Bracket
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Furman's women's basketball team will open Southern Conference Tournament play on Thursday when it takes on Chattanooga in a 3:30 p.m. quarterfinal round contest at Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.
The Paladins (11-18, 3-11 SoCon) take the tournament's No. 7 seed into Thursday's clash against the No. 2 seed Mocs (17-12, 9-5 SoCon), with the winner to face the winner of No. 3 East Tennessee State vs. No. 6 Samford contest on Friday, Mar. 3, at 1:15 in a semifinal round clash.
The game will be live streamed via ESPN+ and include StatBroadcast live stats, with links to both available through FurmanPaladins.com.
Chattanooga topped Furman in both regular season meetings, claiming a 51-44 double overtime win in Greenville on Jan. 21 and a 70-63 verdict in Chattanooga on Feb. 16.
Furman has enjoyed recent success against Chattanooga, having won the last three SoCon Tournament clashes, including a 70-63 overtime triumph in first round action a year ago behind a career high 26 points by point guard
Tate Walters.
Speaking of Walters, the Paladin All-SoCon performer, who averaged 12.9 ppg while registering a league leading 137 assists a year ago, missed this season with a torn Achilles tendon. Her absence, along with injured wing performer
Niveya Henley, who sustained a torn ACL last summer, impacted the Paladins' 2022-23 campaign in a big way, as Walters' point guard replacements,
Janay Outten and
Paraskevi Koilia, combined to produce only 7.1 points at the position.
Strengths for Furman this season include the play of consensus second team All-SoCon forward
Grace van Rij, who averaged a team leading 13.2 points, which she combined with 6.6 rebounds per game on a squad that led the SoCon in rebounding with a +8.1 margin. van Rij, a repeat all-conference selection who also landed all-tournament honors a year ago, also ranked among league leaders in field goal percentage (.510).
Redshirt freshman guard
Jaelyn Acker also fashioned an impactful 2022-23 campaign, earning SoCon All-Freshman Team honors after averaging 11.3 points per game and a capability from 3-point range, which was most evident in a season high 22-point outburst versus Georgia that saw her drain six shots from beyond the arc.
The possible return to the floor by junior forward
Sydney James (9.0 ppg., 7.8 rpg) could give the Paladins a boost. James, who pulled down a career high 21 rebounds in Furman's first meeting with Chattanooga this year, sat out the Paladins' final three regular season games with a foot injury.
Thursday's contest will mark Furman's 40th SoCon Tournament appearance. The Paladins, who are 31-37 all-time in league tournament action, have made nine tournament final appearances, including two in the last four years. Last year Furman fell to Mercer in the championship game, 73-54.
The Paladins claimed SoCon Tournament titles in 1995 & 2000.
