Furman beat Wofford in something.

That is an inaccurate and overwrought observation, particularly from the possessor of a Furman degree, but the Paladins’ 64-51 women’s basketball upset of the Terriers at Timmons Arena sure came in handy, given recent Wofford victories in football and women’s basketball.

In point of fact, Furman leads its series with its nearby rival in most forms of athletics endeavor. For instance, the Paladins lead the women’s basketball series, 49-16, but the Terriers had won the previous three.

Tate Walters came off the bench to score 17 points as the Paladins ran away with the Southern Conference game in the second half.

Furman (14-12, 4-6) had fallen to Wofford, 69-51, in Spartanburg on Jan. 20.

The victory, the second straight by Furman, halted the Terriers’ three-game winning streak.
Walters swished all four of her three-point attempts, hit 5/7 overall and was 3/4 at the free-throw line. The Buford, Ga., product also contributed three assists in 21 minutes of action.

Niveya Henley closely followed Walters with 15 points. Sydney James hit 10.
Walters, who sat out four games earlier this month due to injury and played only eight minutes in the Paladins’ 58-53 win over Western Carolina on Saturday, scored four points in just six first-half minutes of play after being whistled for two fouls.  It was a different story, however, in the third quarter as the redshirt junior guard buried the first of four second-half treys in a decisive 16-2 Paladin run, that also included six points by Henley, to put Furman up, 43-24, with 3:24 remaining in the period.

Wofford’s Rachael Rose led all scorers with 25 points, but no other Terrier joined her in double figures.  Wofford suffered through a 17/54 shooting effort (.315).
In the middle two periods, Furman outscored Wofford (15-9, 7-3), 38-20.
Leading 46-30 after three quarters, the Paladins continued the blitz in fourth, opening the frame with a 13-2 streak that featured a pair of 3-pointers by Walters, who finished off the rally with a basket to stretch Furman’s advantage to 59-32 with five minutes to go.

The Paladins’ 27-point lead survived to under the four-minute mark before some late scoring by Wofford moderated the final score.
Furman shot .536 (15/28) and .500 (7-14) in triples during the second half. In the first quarter, after which the Terriers led, 10-8, the Paladins were 2/11 from the floor.

It was quite the contrast, too, from the earlier game between the rivals. In that game, Furman canned but 2/26 three-pointers.

The Paladins paired 18 assists with 22 made baskets, led by Jada Session with five, and she also paced the rebounders with 11.

Take a look at the stats here.

The past two weeks I’ve been suffering from shingles, which have curtailed my live coverage. On Tuesday night, I covered a game for the first time in a while. Even while laid up, though, at least one piece has been posted here for 34 straight days.

I still don’t feel so hot. A coach would probably list me as questionable. It may be a game-time decision.

Shingles has also knocked me off my financial rocker. I’m strapped for cash.

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