GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Furman's road heavy early season Southern Conference schedule continues on Saturday when it takes on Wofford in Spartanburg in a 2:00 p.m. ESPN+ streamed contest at Richardson Indoor Stadium.
Furman (11-7, 1-1 SoCon) and Wofford (9-7, 1-1 SoCon) opened league play last week by splitting a pair of road contests, with both winning at Western Carolina and losing at UNC Greensboro.
Although Furman holds a dominant 49-18 lead in the all-time series, Wofford has evened things of late, winning both games a year ago. Â The Paladins are 17-12 all-time versus the Terriers in Spartanburg, but Wofford has won the last six clashes on its home court, including a 79-55 triumph last season.
To turn the tables Furman will need solid play from its junior forward tandem of
Jada Session and
Kate Johnson, who have delivered solid production this season under first-year head coach
Pierre Curtis. Â In addition to headlining a balanced attack, the 6-foot-1 Session (13.1 ppg) tops the SoCon in rebounding (8.7 rpg), which she has used to rack up six double-doubles on the campaign. Â The 6-foot-3 Johnson, meanwhile, qualifies as the team's most improved player, upping her scoring (13.1 ppg) and rebounding averages (7.6 rpg) in impressive fashion from a year ago (1.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg). Â Johnson, who easily paces the league in field goal percentage (.630), tallied a game high 19 points in Furman's last outing against UNCG on Saturday.
Furman's wing and guard play have been solid in stretches. Â The trio of
Sydney Ryan (11.8 ppg),
Niveya Henley (10.9 ppg), and
Tate Walters (10.5 ppg) have been a major factor in the Paladins' posting the SoCon's best offensive numbers (72.4 ppg). Â Ryan's 3-point shooting ability (.452) is noteworthy.
The impact small forward
Sydney James (6.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg) has had at times can tip the scales in Furman's favor in any league contest. Â Over the last five games (4-1) the senior has averaged 11.0 ppg and connected on 7-of-15 3-pointers.
The Paladins hope to leverage their rebounding ability against the Terriers, entering the game with a league best +11.8 margin on the glass. Â More effective ball handling could also be big for Furman, which has suffered a league high 318 turnovers (17.7/game) thru 18 games.Â
Fans can also follow Saturday's contest via SideArm live stats, with links to that and the ESPN+ stream available thru FurmanPaladins.com.
Furman plays two home games next week, making its Timmons Arena SoCon season debut on Thursday versus Samford and facing Mercer on Saturday.