It seemed a little odd to have Furman play women’s basketball without Jackie Carson on the bench, but all was in order as Pierre Curtis debuted with a 71-61 victory over UNC Asheville at Timmons Arena on Tuesday night.

Tate Walters scored 21 points, and Niveya Henley added 18.

It’s not like Curtis was unfamiliar. He made his head coaching debut after 10 seasons on Carson’s staff.

Walters and Henley, both sidelined a year ago due to injuries, delivered in a big way in their return to the court.

A redshirt junior guard, Walters made 8/16 shots including 3/6 three-pointers, while Henley, a redshirt sophomore guard, connected on 5/9 attempts from the field, including her only shot from three-point range. The Seattle, Wash., product led Furman at the line, converting 7/9 attempts.
Jada Session wasn’t far behind. She had 16 points and nine rebounds in 26 minutes.

Trailing 19-14 after one quarter, Furman opened the second period behind Henley and Walters, who combined to score 12 of the Paladins’ 13 points in a 13-1 run to take a 27-20 lead six minutes into the frame.

The Bulldogs answered with seven straight points to tie it at 27-27 on Mallory Bruce’s three-point play, only to see Walters counter with a pair of threes to help send Furman into halftime with a 34-31 advantage.
UNCA Asheville used a Jaila Lee jumper to go up 44-43 with 4:23 to go in the third period before Furman responded with an 8-0 finish to the quarter with a 51-44 lead.
UNCA got within four points at 61-57 with just under three minutes to go before a failed steal attempt allowed Walters to break free for an uncontested 10-foot jumper to keep the Bulldogs in check.

Furman used its size advantage inside to claim a 53-34 edge in rebounding, with Sydney Ryan joining Session with nine boards to go along with seven points.

UNC Asheville was led by Lalmani Simmons with 14 points, and Lee finished with 12.  

The Paladins shot 43.9 percent from the field (25/57), while the Bulldogs managed to connect on just 22/64 shots (34.4).

Furman plays Saturday at Georgia Tech in a 2 p.m. game.

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