In Norse mythology, a Valkyrie is one of a host of women who accompany deceased souls to Valhalla, which is almost near Seneca. Its original meaning is “chooser of the slain.”

Converse (5-7) got it backwards on Sunday women’s basketball at Timmons Arena. Furman (10-6) routed the Valkyries, 93-40, in the Paladins’ final refresher for the Southern Conference season.

Kate Johnson delivered career highs of 22 points and 15 rebounds as Furman won its third straight. The SoCon schedule opens at Western Carolina on Thursday night.

Johnson, a junior forward from Acworth, Ga., delivered a dominant performance, connecting on 11/15 shots in 25 minutes to exceed her previous career standard of 16 points against Coastal Carolina earlier this season. Johnson’s 15 boards bettered the 11 she collected against Erskine a season ago.

Johnson’s double-double, her second of the season, was strangely common in the game. She was joined by Sydney Ryan, who tallied 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Tate Walters, who chipped in 19 points to go with 10 assists.

Niveya Henley also scored in double digits with 13 points.

The game of a gathering storm. Furman just led 28-21 after a quarter. Then the Paladins won the second quarter 13-5, the third 33-8 and the fourth 19-8.

After building the modest first quarter lead, Furman turned up the defensive pressure on Converse.

The Paladins blew the game open in the third quarter by connecting on 12/17 shots (.706), highlighted by 5/5 work from 3-point range. Henley led the charge from range, draining all three chances in the quarter, and Walters bottomed out both of her trey opportunities to key the Paladins’ 33-point period.

Furman, which entered the game ranked 14th nationally in rebounding with a plus-11.9 margin, improved that figure by running up a 49-23 advantage on the glass.

The Paladins finished the game shooting .493 from the field (33/67) and .571 from three-point range (12/21), their second best work of the season from beyond the arc.

Elisa Sole Sanchez led Converse with 12 points but suffered four of the 17 turnovers forced by Furman.

In the third quarter, the Paladins buried all four triples and all four free throws but missed five shots inside the arc.

Take a look at the stats here.

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