CHATTANOOGA, TENN. -- Raven Thompson scored 17 points and Chattanooga used hot shooting and a strong first half to pull away from Furman on the way to a 79-62 victory in Southern Conference women's basketball play Saturday afternoon at McKenzie Arena.

In earning their eighth straight victory, the Mocs (19-3, 6-0 SoCon), who entered the contest leading the SoCon in field goal percentage and 3-point shooting by wide margins, did nothing but help those spreads by shooting 59.2 percent from the field (29x49), including 7-of-15 (46.7%)  from 3-point range.

Thompson knocked down 7-of-9 shots and all three free throw attempts for her 17 points.  She was followed by Hannah Kohn, who converted 6-of-8 field goal attempts, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, to finish with 16 points.

Jada Session paced Furman (12-11, 2-5 SoCon) with a game high 19 points after being forced to carry the bulk of the Paladins' inside scoring load when starting center Kate Johnson exited the game due to injury just four minutes into the second quarter.

Jaelyn Acker was the only other Paladin to reach double figures, tallying a season high 12 points.

Chattanooga blistered the nets in the first half, connecting on 16-of-23 shots (69.6%) to grab a 43-29 lead.

Furman scored the first seven points of the second half to cut UTC's advantage to 43-36 on a Session, jumper, but Thompson converted a 3-point play on the ensuing possession to give the Mocs a 46-36 lead with 5:41 remaining in the third period.

A Sydney James 3-pointer with 8:02 to go in the game pulled Furman to with 59-51, but Chattanooga answered with two baskets to push the advantage back to double digits.

Session also topped Furman with eight rebounds as the Paladins finished with a 27-24 edge on the glass.

Furman returns home for three straight games at Timmons Arena, starting Thursday with a 7:00 matchup against UNC Greensboro.