Box Score

GREENVILLE, SC UNC Greensboro lost 52-50 to Furman in a Southern Conference women's basketball game this afternoon at Timmons Arena. The Spartans' KaLeah Latham had a chance to send the game into overtime but her running jumper in the lane was blocked.

Latham and Jasmine Byrd led UNCG (4-7, 1-3 SoCon) with 13 points apiece, while Kemena Brooks added eight points.  Latham, a sophomore forward from Athens, TN, converted 5-of-9 shots from the field and hauled in five rebounds.

Kristen Boone, a freshman from Upper Marlboro, MD had six points, came up with a season-high six steals for the second straight game and dished out four assists. Boone has 26 steals over the last five games.

Laney Harris led Furman (9-3, 4-1 SoCon) with 13 points, while Chrissy Phelps and Jessica Lange each had 11 points. Katie Roach and Mivvi Strickland each hauled in seven rebounds to lead the Lady Paladins to a 44-36 advantage on the glass.

The Spartans forced Furman into 29 turnovers, but only converted them into 15 points, primarily due to the 33.9 percent (20-for-59) shooting by UNCG. The hosts didn't fair much better from the floor, as they converted only 35.3 percent (18-for-51) of their attempts.

UNCG held Furman scoreless throughout the first 4:10 of the second half and in the process, used an 8-0 spurt, which was capped by a jumper in the paint by Latham to square the game 34-34 at the 16:18 mark. In addition, the Spartans held Furman without a field goal for nearly eight minutes to open the half.

UNCG could not fully exploit the Lady Paladins' drought though as the Spartans suffered through a 4:18 scoreless stretch of their own as the game remained close. Furman led by as many as eight, 49-41 with 3:35 to go, but UNCG cut the lead back to two points on three occasions. Ultimately, the Spartans would come up empty, turning the ball over twice and on the final possession, Latham had her shot blocked by Harris.

In the first half, Furman used a pair of 3-pointers by Harris to go up 12-7 just 5:39 into the game. The Lady Paladins extended their lead to nine, 25-16, on a fast break layup by Phelps with 8:42 left until halftime, but UNCG went on an 8-3 run over the next 3:40 to cut its deficit to four, 28-24, at the 5:02 mark. The run was capped by a jumper in the paint by Latham.

From that point, the Spartans would not get any closer than that as Furman closed the stanza with six of the last eight points to go into halftime leading 34-26.

UNCG begins a three-game home stand on Wednesday, January 5 when local rival Elon arrives for a 7 pm SoCon matchup at Fleming Gym. Meanwhile, Furman hosts Wofford in a league tilt on Wendesday at 7 pm.

AGATE:

FURMAN 52, UNCG 50

UNCG (4-7, 1-3 SoCon)

Byrd 5-13 0-0 13; Latham 5-9 3-6 13; Brooks 4-11 0-1 8; Boone 2-6 2-4 6; Blair 2-5 0-0 4; Dixon 1-5 0-0 2; Otamiri 1-2 0-0 2; Current 0-1 2-6 2; Chamberlain 0-1 0-0 0; Eaton 0-6 0-0 0; Britt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-59 7-17 50.

FURMAN (9-3, 4-1 SoCon)

Harris 5-12 0-0 13; Lange 4-11 3-4 11; Phelps 3-6 4-5 11; Wells 4-4 0-0 9; Paris 2-9 3-4 7; Roach 0-4 1-3 1; Scott 0-2 0-0 0; Strickland 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 18-51 11-16 52.

UNCG..........................   26   24  -   50

Furman........................   34   18  -   52

Halftime: Furman 34, UNCG 26. 3-point goals-UNCG 3-19 (Byrd 3-10; Brooks 0-3; Boone 0-1; Eaton 0-5), Furman 5-13 (Harris 3-7; Phelps 1-1; Wells 1-1; Scott 0-2; Paris 0-2). Fouled out--UNCG-Boone, Furman-None. Rebounds-UNCG 36 (Brooks 5; Latham 5), Furman 44 (Strickland 7; Roach 7). Assists-UNCG 11 (Eaton 6), Furman 12 (Paris 4). Total fouls-UNCG 17, Furman 16. A-572

- UNCG -