GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Kennedy Langham scored 26 points and Samford used effective defense to edge Furman, 66-60, in Southern Conference women's basketball action Thursday evening at Timmons Arena.

The win was the third straight for Samford (11-9, 3-2 SoCon) and the loss the third in row for Furman (11-9, 1-3 SoCon), which plays host to Mercer in a 2:00 p.m. contest on Saturday.

The 26-point effort marked a season high for Langham, a freshman guard.  She connected on 9-of-17 shots, which she combined with nine rebounds and three steals.

The Bulldogs shot 43.9 percent from the field (25x57) and drained 5-of-10 3-point attempts, which proved enough to overcome 11-of-24 work at the free throw line.

Furman, meanwhile, hit on 35.1 percent of its shots (20x57), including 6-of-21 attempts from 3-point range.

Sadie Stetson tallied 12 points, and Samford got six blocks from 6-foot-5 center Emily Bowman.

Niveya Henley paced Furman with 13 points and Sydney Ryan finished with 11 points.

Samford grabbed the lead late in the first quarter and never trailed thereafter.

Sydney James' 3-pointer to the end the first half pulled Furman to within 29-24, and the Paladins opened the second half with baskets from Henley and Kate Johnson to trim Samford's lead to 29-28.

The Paladins trailed 41-38 late in third quarter before Samford finished the period with a 6-0 run on a pair of baskets by Langham and a follow by Bowman for a 47-38 advantage.

Furman trailed 55-41 with six minutes to go in the contest before battling back.  Three free throws from Ryan with 28 seconds remaining pulled the Paladins to within 62-58 before Langham completed her scoring with four free throws in the closing seconds.

The Bulldogs made Furman pay dearly for a number of early game turnovers, at one point building a 18-3 edge in points off miscues before the Paladins flipped the script, cutting the differential to 19-15 by the end of the contest.