East Tennessee State utterly dominated the second half and put Furman away, 79-54, in women’s basketball on Thursday evening at the Bucs’ Brooks Gym in Johnson City.

It took a three-pointer by ETSU’s Courtney Moore to give the Buccaneers a 34-30 halftime advantage.

The façade of competitiveness ended in the third quarter, when ETSU (15-6, 4-2 SoCon) outscored Furman (12-10, 2-4), 25-14.

Nevaeh Brown led the Buccaneers with 19 points.

Furman got 14 points and eight rebounds from Kate Johnson. Sydney Ryan finished with 13 points, and Jaelyn Acker contributed a season-high 11. Jada Session finished with 10.

The Buccaneers shredded Furman’s defense, connecting on 26/53 shots (.491) and outscoring the Paladins by 12 points at free throw line, aided by a 25-13 advantage in fouls.

ETSU took advantage of 20 Furman turnovers to register a 22-8 advantage in points off miscues.

The Paladins won the rebounding battle, 41-34.

Furman’s road swing continues Saturday with a 2 p.m. contest at Chattanooga.

Take a look at the stats here.

First baseman Kiley Perry, the Preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year, headlined five Furman standouts earning preseason honors, and the Paladins were picked to finish fifth in the SoCon in polling of the league’s head coaches.

Perry and centerfielder Ashlee Lykins were tabbed as preseason first team All-SoCon selections while shortstop Alex Rose Molinar, right fielder Caitlin Goldwait, and designated player Sylvia Burroughs received second-team honors. UNC Greensboro, the 2023 SoCon regular season and tournament champions, was picked to repeat with second-place Samford and Mercer also receiving preseason first-place votes.

The SoCon’s freshman of the year and a first team All-SoCon choice in 2023, Perry batted .333 and paced the league in home runs (16) and RBIs (44) a year ago. A native of Alpharetta, Ga., Perry belted five homers and posted a .565 slugging percentage during league play to help Furman to an 8-9 SoCon record and third-place finish.

Lykins, a senior, batted .298 a year ago with a .359 on-base percentage and ranked fourth in the SoCon with 15 stolen bases. The Naples, Fla., native wowed fans with her defense in center field that led to a pair of appearances on SportsCenter’s Top 10.

Molinar started 46 games at shortstop as a junior and posted a .258 batting average with two homers and 13 RBIs. A native of San Diego, Calif., she hit .347 in conference play and finished the season with just 11 strikeouts in 124 at bats.

Goldwait provided Furman with a combination of speed and defense in 2023. She batted .253 with 21 runs and led the Paladins with six sacrifices. The Sugarland, Texas, native finished the campaign with nine stolen bases in 10 attempts.

Burroughs earned first team All-SoCon honors at designated player and joined Perry on the SoCon All-Freshman squad last season after batting .257 with seven homers and 26 runs batted in. After splitting time between third base and designated player as a freshman, the Melbourne, Fla., product is set to see time behind the plate in 2024. 

Furman opens the season Feb. 9-11 with five games in Wilmington, N.C., before hosting the Furman Invitational at Pepsi Stadium Feb. 16-18.

SoCon Preseason Poll
Team (First-Place Votes) Points

Preseason Player of the Year
Kiley Perry, Furman, 1B/P, So. 
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Grace Taylor, Mercer, So.
Preseason First-Team All-SoCon
P          Grace Taylor, Mercer, So.

P          Maddie Spell, UNCG, R-Jr.

P          McKenzie Newcomb, Samford, Jr.
C          Logan Champion, Samford, Jr.
IF         Cam Young, ETSU, Jr.
IF         Kiley Perry, Furman, So.
IF         Brooklynn Maxwell, UNCG, Sr.
IF         Sarah Squillace, Samford, Jr.
OF       Ashlee Lykins, Furman, Sr.
OF       McKayla Cothran, Samford, Jr.
OF       Addy Keylon, Chattanooga, Sr.
DP       Jorde Chartrand, UNCG, Jr.

Preseason Second-Team All-SoCon
P          Rhyann Jones, UNCG, So.
P          Peja Goold, Chattanooga, So.
C          Jayce Purdy, Chattanooga, Jr.
IF         Riley Nayadley, ETSU, Jr.
IF         Alex Rose Molinar, Furman, Sr.
IF         Kaili Phillips, Chattanooga, R-Sr.
IF         Natalie Henry, Western Carolina, Jr.
OF       Caitlin Goldwait, Furman, Jr.
OF       Grace Loftin, UNCG, Jr.

1. UNCG (4)	46
2. Samford (3)	43
3. Mercer (1)	34
4. Chattanooga	28
5. Furman	26
6. Western Carolina	23
7. ETSU	17
8. Wofford	7

OF       Olivia Lipari, Chattanooga, Jr.
DP       Sylvia Burroughs, Furman, So.

The Furman men’s tennis team heads to West Point, N.Y., this weekend to compete in three matches at Army’s Lichtenberg Tennis Center.
The Paladins begin play on Friday morning with an 11 a.m. match versus DePaul and follow on Saturday at 8 a.m. against Army. Furman concludes play Sunday morning at 11 a.m. versus Boston College.

The Paladins (3-3), winners of three of their last four matches, closed out a four-match homestand last Jan.uary 26, sweeping Bellarmine and North Greenville in a non-conference doubleheader. Furman won 5-2 over Bellarmine before sweeping North Greenville, 4-0.
Army has started its season 2-1 with wins over Rider and Sacred Heart, while Boston College is 1-1 and DePaul 1-2. Boston College defeated Merrimack College on Jan. 21 and DePaul topped Wisconsin on Jan. 19.
The Paladins hold a 4-0 advantage in the all-time series versus Army but trails DePaul 1-0. Furman is facing Boston College for the first time in program history.
The Paladins return to Mickel Tennis Center next weekend to host Gardner-Webb on Feb. 9 and Xavier on Feb. 11.

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