GREENVILLE, S.C. – The UNCG women's basketball team battled but fell short in its final conference road game against Furman, 77-68, Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.  

The Spartans fall to 5-22 overall and are 0-12 in the SoCon. Furman improves to 17-11 and evens its conference mark at 6-6.

Junior guard Lucy Mason (Stone Mountain, Ga./Chamblee Charter) led all scorers hitting 20 points or more for the seventh time this season. Mason finished with 22 points (7-of-19), six rebounds and three assists inching towards 400 points for the season at 398.

Sophomore Bailey Williams (Harrisonburg, Va./Spotswood) added 11 points off 5-of-7 from the floor. Senior Jarae Savage (Marietta, Ga./North Cobb) pitched in 12 points (5-of-12) with four rebounds.

UNCG finished the game shooting 37.9 percent off 25-of-66 from the field and were a solid 5-of-10 from the three-point line. The Blue and Gold finished with nine steals and forced 21 turnovers for Furman.

The Paladins ended the game shooting 51.1 percent (23-of-45) and grabbed 43 rebounds in the contest. Senior Brittany Hodges had 21 points and 13 rebounds in the victory. Sophomore Whitney Bunn chipped in 17 points (4-of-8) and dished out 12 assists.

In the first half, Furman shot over 50 percent from the field to take a 38-30 halftime lead against UNCG. Mason led the team with nine points off 3-of-9 from the field. Senior Jarae Savage (Marietta, Ga./North Cobb) added six points and two rebounds.

The Spartans took a 3-0 lead after a three-pointer from senior guard Jessica Collins (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield/Eckerd College) to open the game. Furman responded with a 14-0 run capped by a layup from Whitney Bunn with 13:44 remaining in the half.

With under nine minutes to play in the period, Furman had a 21-11 lead after two free throws from Cierra Carter. UNCG would make a run cutting the lead to 25-21 after a 10-4 run thanks to back-to-back layups from Williams at the 5:29 mark.

The Paladins would hold a 10-point lead after a fastbreak layup from Brittany Hodges to make the score 33-23 with 3:07 remaining in the half.

UNCG outscored Furman 7-to-5 to end the half, including a key three-pointer with the clock running down by Mason to make the score 38-30.

Furman would jump out to a double-digit lead in the second half holding a 49-32 lead after a 11-2 run ended by a jumped from Bunn with 14:36 remaining.

The Spartans would keep battling cutting the lead to single-digits at 51-42 on the heels of a 10-2 spurt capped by a layup from junior Jazmine Missouri (Largo, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) with just under 11 minutes left.

Four minutes later, Furman outscored UNCG 12-2 to hold a 19-point advantage at 63-44 with 7:11 on the clock. The Blue and Gold made one last run going on a 17-7 burst to make the score 70-61 off a layup from Williams with 2:07 remaining.

The Paladins would hit clutch free throws going 4-for-4 from the line and a dagger three-pointer from Allison Beasley gave Furman a 77-68 home victory on their senior day.

UNCG returns home to finish the season in Greensboro starting with its “Play 4 Kay” game Monday, Feb. 23 against Wofford at 7 p.m.