GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Coming off a 61-57 comeback road victory over Elon on Wednesday, Furman's women's basketball team will take aim for its fourth consecutive victory on Sunday when it plays host to Charleston Southern in a 2:00 p.m. contest at Hayes Gymnasium on the campus of North Greenville University.
NGU's Hayes Gymnasium serves as the primary home court for the Paladins this season while Timmons Arena, the university's home basketball venue, undergoes a $40 million renovation.
The Paladins are scheduled to play 10 of their 12 home games in 2024-45 at Hayes Gymnasium, as well as two contests  — UNC Greensboro (Jan.18) and Wofford (Feb. 8) — at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in downtown Greenville.
Sunday's contest will be streamed via ESPN+ and StatBroadcast live stats provided thru the Furman schedule page on FurmanPaladins.com. Â Score updates, timely notes, and game highlight clips will be posted on @FurmanWBB.
Furman (7-3) has gotten off to a quality start under second-year head coach
Pierre Curtis. Â A pair of wins over Georgia State (85-74) and Purdue Fort Wayne (88-84, OT) last week in Atlanta and the win over Elon constitute the Paladins' three-game winning streak
Fueling the Paladins' early season success has been a well balanced squad led by graduate guard
Tate Walters (13.1 ppg) and senior forward
Kate Johnson (13.6 ppg, 7.7 rpg).  Walters overcame foul trouble to deliver a pair of late game 3-pointers  — part of a 9-0 run — that delivered the win over Elon.  The Buford, Ga., product's final trey against the Phoenix gave her 1,000 points in her Paladin career to become the 27th player in program history to reach the four-digit scoring plateau.  Johnson, meanwhile, tallied a game high 17 points against Elon and sports a team leading 61.7 field goal percentage.
The solid play of juniors
Sydney Ryan (12.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg) and
Niveya Henley (11.4 ppg) has been a major plus. Â Ryan, the reigning SoCon Player of the Week, is Furman's top 3-point shooter (36.7%), and Henley have proven ability to deliver big points, evidenced by her 22-point performance in the win over Georgia State.
A trio of freshmen have settled into key roles. Â They include forward
Clare Coyle (5.9 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and guards
Raina McGowens (6.7 ppg) and
Chantelle Stuart (4.3 ppg, 26 ast.). Â Stuart delivered a season high eight points, including a pair of key 3-pointers, in 19 minutes of action against Elon.
Rebounding has been a major Furman strength through 10 games, reflected in a +10.5 margin. Â The board work has helped overcome the Paladins' struggle with turnovers (18.5/game).
Additional help could soon be realized with the return of senior All-SoCon forward
Jada Session, the Paladins' top scorer (13.1 ppg) and rebounder (8.1 rpg) a year ago.
Charleston Southern (3-7) has played an ambitious early season schedule, including contests against North Carolina and LSU. Â The Buccaneers have won two of their last three games but fell 86-45 to the College of Charleston in their last outing on Tuesday.
Furman, which trimmed Charleston Southern 71-68 a year ago in North Charleston, has won 16 of the last 17 meetings with the Buccaneers and leads the all-time series 25-6.Â