GREENVILLE, S.C. – Coming off a gritty, 72-70 Southern Conference season opening road victory over East Tennessee State on Thursday, Furman's women's basketball team will wrap up its first league road swing of the season on Saturday when it takes on Chattanooga in 2:00 p.m. contest at McKenzie Arena.
The game will be livestreamed via ESPN+, and fans can also follow the action via Sidearm 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
Winners of seven of its last nine games, Furman played impressive ball for most of three quarters against ETSU, building a 54-39 late third quarter lead before the Buccaneers rallied and twice tied the contest in the fourth quarter. The Paladins, however, had the final answer when sophomore guard
Alyssa Ervin put down a guarded 12-foot jumper with 20 seconds remaining for the game's final points.
Ervin, a transfer from Elon, finished the game with 18 points in just 22 minutes of action. She is averaging 12.6 points per game, second only to
Clare Coyle's 15.4 points per game clip. Coyle, a sophomore forward and preseason All-SoCon selection, paced Furman with 19 points against ETSU. She leads the SoCon in field goal percentage (.584) and ranks second in scoring and third in rebounding (7.3 rpg).
Coyle, who on Tuesday was named SoCon Player of the Week, appears to have shaken off early season troubles at the free throw line, evidenced by her converting 24 of her last 36 attempts (.750) over the last eight games after going 14-for-35 at the stripe (.400) in the Paladins' first eight outings. She made 5-of-6 attempts versus the Buccaneers.
Rounding out Furman's trio of double figure scorers is another sophomore, guard
Raina McGowens (10.1 ppg).
Playing a big part in the win over ETSU was
Kyraha Parnell, who delivered season highs in points (15) and rebounds (12), spiced by 3-for-5 work from 3-point range. The sophomore transfer from George Washington has tallied double figure points in three consecutive games and averaged 7.1 rebounds over the last six contests.
Five other Paladins have firmly established themselves in the regular rotation, including point guards
Chantelle Stuart (6.0 ppg), the SoCon leader in assists (5.3/game), and freshman Sophie Pearl (6.3 ppg, 48 ast.). Junior Gardner-Webb transfer
Lauren Bailey (5.9 ppg) is Furman's top 3-point shooter (.349).
The Paladins found the mark on 7-of-17 3-pointers versus ETSU — their second highest proficiency mark of the campaign.
Guard
Samaria Taylor (4.8 ppg) and forward
Channing Warren (4.2 ppg) are both averaging over 13 minutes of court time this season.
Chattanooga, the preseason No. 1 pick of league head coaches, opened SoCon play with a 61-42 home triumph over Wofford on Thursday. The Mocs got the better of the Paladins, 63-55, in SoCon Tournament semifinal round action last year, but only after Furman, only a week prior, dealt UTC a 74-70 overtime loss at McKenzie Arena.
Chattanooga holds a commanding 62-29 lead in the all-time series, but over the last nine seasons the series has been much more competitive, with the Mocs holding a slight 12-11 edge.
