JOHNSON CITY, TENN. – Alyssa Ervin converted a highly contested 12-foot jump shot with 20 seconds remaining to give Furman a 72-70 victory over East Tennessee State in the Southern Conference season opener for both teams Thursday evening at Brooks Gym.

With the score knotted at 70-70 and only six seconds on the shot clock, Ervin took an inbounds pass from Chantelle Stuart in front of the Furman bench, dribbled twice to her left, and put up her baseline shot over heavy defensive pressure from ETSU's Carmen Richardson.  The shot bounced off the rim and backboard before falling through the net for the go-ahead points.

The Buccaneers' Anala Nelson drove into the lane on the ensuing possession but couldn't get her short shot to fall.  ETSU was awarded the team rebound with 1.4 seconds remaining, but Richardson's game winning 3-point attempt from the corner bounced off the front of the rim as time expired.

The win was the seventh triumph in the last nine games for Furman (9-7, 1-0 SoCon) and halted a modest three-game losing skid versus ETSU (7-9, 0-1 SoCon) in Johnson City.

Clare Coyle led Furman with 19 points before getting whistled for her fifth foul with 1:29 remaining and the Paladins clinging to a 70-68 lead.

Ervin, a sophomore guard from Galax, Va., followed with 18 points after tallying 12 in the first half in helping Furman to a 41-28 lead.

Kyraha Parnell delivered her best game in her first year as a Paladin, tallying a season high 15 points to go along with another season high 12 rebounds.  The sophomore forward connected on 3-of-5 3-pointers, with her final trey coming at the 8:00 mark of the fourth quarter to give Furman a 61-56 lead.

Furman never trailed in the game and raced to a 22-10 lead after one quarter.  

After taking a 41-28 lead into the break, the Paladins stretched their advantage to 54-39 following a pair of Raina McGowens free throws with just under four minutes to go in the third quarter.

ETSU answered with a 9-2 run to end the third period to make it a 56-48 game, and the Buccaneers continued to chip away in the fourth quarter behind Nelson, who tallied 17 of her game high 22 points in the second half.

Nelson's layup with 2:41 to go pulled the Buccaneers even at 68-68, but the Paladins responded behind Ervin, who put down a layup at the 1:53 mark for a 70-68 edge.

ETSU converted one of two free throws on two trips to the line to tie it at 70-70 with 47 second left, setting up Furman's final possession and what proved to be Ervin's game winning shot.

Furman shot 45.2 percent from the field (28x62) and connected on 7-of-17 3-pointers (41.2%).  ETSU, meanwhile, hit on 42.4 percent of its shots (25x59), including 8-of-21 from beyond the arc.  The Buccaneers, however, made 12-of-22 free throw attempts while the Paladins connected on 9-of-10 at the stripe.

The Bucs forged a 39-35 edge in rebounding.

Furman continues its SoCon season opening road swing to Chattanooga for a 2:00 p.m. Saturday clash against the Mocs.