GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG women's basketball (5-14, 3-7) has one of its most efficient shooting nights of the season this Thursday, defeating visiting Furman (7-12, 3-7) by a final of 62-56. The Spartans were led by senior CeCe Crudup who scored 12 points with 11 rebounds and six assists, but saw three individuals score in double-figures on the evening. The win brings UNCG level with Furman in the current SoCon standings.

"I'm really proud of this team and their ability to bounce back," said head coach Trina Patterson. "We had two players out of the game due to injuries and they're two leaders on this team and that's a lot of points missing in the lineup. So I was happy with the ability of some of our team to take on a bigger role."

The Spartan defense forced eight Furman turnovers in the opening 10 minutes, scoring 10 of their 19 points in the opening period in transition. A determination to score points in the paint led to high percentage shots for the home team, as UNCG knocked down 8-of-15 in the first quarter, while starting point guard Jayla Johnson was a perfect 4-of-4. The Spartans converted on six of their last seven attempts in the first to gain a 19-10 advantage, in which 16 of those points came in the paint. 

"The game plan was to get paint touches," said coach Patterson. "The goal was to attempt to get three paint touches every possession, and when we did that, we had patience, we made layups and we shot a lot better. We also gave our bigs the opportunity to get more layups because they were around the rim. And that's one of the things that really pleased me about this win, our ability to finish and stick to the gameplan."

After pulling down six rebounds before the first break, Crudup added another three in the second to pull herself within three points and a board of a first half double-double. On the defensive side of the ball, Crudup added a pair of steals as the Spartans combined for eight in first 20 minutes, forcing 14 Paladin turnovers in all. 

The Spartans efficient shooting and hard work on defense led to a 32-20 advantage at the halftime break, with Furman's 15 bench points the only thing keeping the deficit from expanding even wider. With a shortened bench of their own, coach Patterson provided increased minutes to some of the less-used players on her roster including junior transfer Jaylynn Brown.

Starting the first half 2-of-5, Brown went off for seven points in the second half to finish with a UNCG career-high of 11. After seeing Furman open up the third quarter on a 6-0 run, Brown and teammate Lilian Izundu combined for nine of their team's 11 points in the period, but would ultimately fall behind by a count of 44-43 before the start of the fourth. 

A full team effort iced a victory on the night, as the Spartans scored 19 on 7-for-13 shooting from the floor in the final 10 minutes. Crudup added five to finish with a team-high of 12, while Excellanxt Greer scored five of her seven in the period. The Spartans did just enough to hold off a Furman squad that had 10 offensive boards in the fourth, keeping the side to just five baskets on 22 shots. 

Crudup, Brown and Amber Redmond would all record double-digit performances on the evening, as UNCG had its best shooting night against a Division I opponent on the year. Together the Spartans scored 40 points in the paint while hitting 26-of-53 (.491) field goal attempts in a 62-56 victory.

>> Redmond quietly picked up her 10 points, scoring six in the first and a pair apiece in the third and fourth quarters. While the sophomore contributed four rebounds and a steal, she also drew a team-high seven fouls on the night and was a plus-nine in her 31 minutes played
>> Crudup's 12 points, 11 rebounds and six assists put her four helpers away from having the Spartans first triple-double in UNCG Division I history
>> The Spartans took just six shots from three-point range on the night, the lowest of the season by five. They are 3-2 when taking less than 15 threes this season

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