GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Coming off impressive home comeback wins over UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina, Furman's women's basketball team will look to extend its momentum when it hits the road for a pair of Southern Conference clashes beginning Thursday at Mercer.

Tipoff of the ESPN+ streamed event against the Bears at Hawkins Arena is set for 7:00 p.m. The Paladins will take on Samford on Saturday in a 5:00 p.m. ET clash in Birmingham.

After a 2-5 season start, Furman (11-8, 3-1 SoCon) has gone 9-3 over its last 12 outings, including winning three of its first four SoCon contests.  The latest two verdicts were registered in impression fashion, as the Paladins overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to beat reigning SoCon regular season and tournament champion UNCG, 69-56, last Thursday, and on Saturday erased an eight-point halftime shortfall to thrash Western Carolina, 69-38.

The win over UNCG halted the Spartans' seven game winning streak and 16-game run of success against SoCon foes — the Spartans' first league setback in 362 days.  The triumph over Western Carolina, which saw Furman limit the Catamounts to just 12 second half points on 2-for-21 shooting, marked the Paladins' 14th consecutive home triumph over WCU in Greenville.

The Paladins have struggled historically against Mercer (12-6, 2-1 SoCon), trailing in the all-time series, 25-9, but a year ago head coach Pierre Curtis' squad won both meetings, including a 57-47 triumph in Macon.

Furman's surge has been sparked by contributions from a number players, including sophomore forward Clare Coyle (14.4 ppg, 8.4 rpg), the SoCon's rebounding and field goal percentage (.540) leader who is also second in steals (40) and tied for third in scoring,  An injury to starting forward Kyraha Parnell has put more defensive focus on Coyle, but the Jacksonville, Fla., has responded well to the pressure.  She's pulled down 43 rebounds in the last three games and against Western Carolina posted her sixth double-double (12 pts., 12 rebs.) of the season.

Parnell's injury and the sidelining of her backup, Channing Warren, also due to injury, has forced Curtis to deploy a smaller lineup, and the result has been impressive.

Sophomore Alyssa Ervin (13.1 ppg), in her first season as a Paladin after spending last year at Elon, delivered a career high 24 points against UNCG and backed it up with a team high 17 points  against Western Carolina.

Raina McGowens (9.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg), another sophomore, ignited the Paladins' second half comeback against Western Carolina by connecting on 5-of-5 field goals in the third quarter on the way to a 12-point, seven-rebound performance. 

The win over UNCG was spiced by a career high 26-point performance from Chantelle Stuart (7.8 ppg), who has been part of a stepped-up Paladin defense that helped force a combined 51 turnovers by the Spartans and Catamounts.  Stuart, the SoCon assist leader (73), has converted 5-of-9 3-pointers (.545) and contributed 13 assists, 10 rebounds, and seven steals in the last four games.

Freshman Brooklyn King (4.3 ppg), whose role has become more important of late, matched her season high with 10 points in 25 minutes of court time on Saturday.

In addition to the ESPN+ live stream, fans can also follow Thursday's action via StatBroadcast live stats and receive timely updates and highlight clips thru @FurmanWBB's "X" account.  Links to the livestream and stats are available on Furman's women's basketball schedule page at FurmanPaladins.com.