Furman’s two-game, women’s basketball win streak ended in Macon, Ga., with a thud but not without a fight.

Mercer (12-16, 6-6 SoCon) escaped with a 55-50 win after building a 42-22 three minutes into the second half.

The Paladins executed a persistent comeback in spite of a flawed performance. Five Furman players attempted 12 three-pointers … and missed them all. Including all its shots, the Paladins shot .375 and only hit half its efforts in the third quarter. The Bears won big on the boards, 43-34, and committed 20 turnovers.

But …

After Furman’s Sydney James’ three-point play with 45 seconds remaining pulled Furman to within 51-50, the Bears were awarded a timeout with 17 seconds to go during a scramble for the ball. Furman was whistled for a foul on an inbounds lob pass under the basket, and Mercer’s DeJa Williams followed by inbounding the ball to a cutting Briana Peguero, who converted the layup for the 53-50 lead with 14 seconds to go.

Peguero then blocked a potential game tying 3-point attempt by Niveya Henley with three seconds remaining to help the Bears hold off Furman on Thursday evening at Hawkins Arena.

It was an heroic loss but a loss nonetheless.

Furman (14-13, 4-7) trailed 49-39 with just under seven minutes to go when Session scored six points in an 8-0 Paladin run that pulled Furman to within 49-47 on a bank shot by James with two minutes remaining.

The Bears’ Summah Evans drained a jump shot to give Mercer a 51-47 advantage with 1:05 to go.

Jada Session led Furman in scoring with 19 points, the only Paladin to reach double figures. James grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.

Mercer shot just .324 from the field (22/68) but took 20 more shots than Furman (18/48).

The Bears made 6/14 first-half triples in taking a 35-18 lead at the break, but the Mercer went 0/10 from beyond in the arc of the game’s final 20 minutes.

Evans paced Mercer with 16 points, and Stacie Jones followed with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

 Furman’s two-game road trip continues on Saturday with a 5:30 ET contest at Samford.

Take a look at the stats here.

The Paladins have many questions to answer in spring football practice, which began on Thursday.

The first of 14 practices over five weeks began at 4 p.m. The annual Purple-White scrimmage is set for 1 p.m. at Saturday, March 16, at Paladin Stadium.

The Paladins originally planned to open spring practice earlier but postponed its start following the passing of defensive lineman Bryce Stanfield on Feb. 9.

The Paladins’ active roster features 91 players, including freshman quarterback Trey Hedden, a December 2023 signee and January enrollee who will take part in spring drills. Two other January freshman additions include strong safety Max Eubanks and defensive tackle Ty Kausarud, both products of IMG Academy.

 The Paladins project to return 30 lettermen and 14 players who count starting experience.Furman, coming off a 10-3 season a year ago that featured the program’s 15th SoCon championship and FCS quarterfinal (third-round) playoff appearance, finished the campaign ranked sixth in the final AFCA FCS Poll.

Last fall Furman paced the SoCon in most every defensive category and ranked fifth in the FCS with 38 sacks.  Returning Paladins accounted for 21 of the 38 quarterback takedowns.

 The top candidate to take over at quarterback is Carson Jones (56/100, 546 yds., 7 TDs), the SoCon’s Co-Freshman of the Year in 2023. Jones logged a pair of late-season starts after coming off the bench to lead the Paladins to a 17-14 road win over Chattanooga that secured the league championship.

Furman inked 12 recruits in December’s early signing period and added four more on Feb. 7 National Signing Day.

In addition to detailing the Paladins’ new spring practice schedule, Hendrix announced title additions to four members of the coaching staff.  They include Duane Vaughn, Defensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach; Kevin Lewis, Defensive Line/Run Game Coordinator; Matt McCutchan, Offensive Line/Running Game Coordinator; and Drew Dudzik, Wide Receivers/Passing Game Coordinator.

Furman kicks off its 2024 season on Aug. 31 versus Ole Miss.

South Carolina’s Alana Vawter hurled a one-hitter and Aniyah Black drove in three runs to lead the 17^th-ranked Gamecocks to a 6-0 victory over Furman in softball Wednesday at Carolina Softball Stadium in Columbia.

The Gamecocks (9-2) took the lead with an unearned run in the bottom of the first and extended the advantage to 4-0 in the bottom of the second inning when Black lined a two-out, three-run triple.

Senior Sierra Tufts (4-1) took the loss for Furman after allowing two earned runs, four total, on four hits in two innings of work. Hannah Poole notched the lone hit for the Paladins.

 Furman (7-3) returns to action this weekend at Coastal Carolina’s Battle at the Beach in Conway. The Paladins open play in the tournament on Friday with a 10 a.m. first pitch versus the Louisville Cardinals.

Cierra Hopson scored a game-high four goals to propel the Elon Phoenix to a 13-9 victory over the Furman women’s lacrosse team on Wednesday evening at Rudd Field.
Sophie Shaw paced the Paladins (1-2) offensively with six points on three goals and three assists, and Paige Harman, Anna Roser and Hannah Dintino all contributed two goals.
In goal, Lily Rathbun and Sailor Henderson combined for eight saves.
Furman returns to Paladin Stadium on Saturday morning to host East Carolina at 11 a.m.

Cross country/track and field coach Rita Gary will serve as the Team USA U20 women’s coach for the 2024 World Athletics Cross Country Championships, which will be held March 30 in Belgrade, Serbia

A native of Saline, Mich., Gary is in her 12th season at Furman.  The 2018 USTFCCCA Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year, she served as the Team USA women’s coach for the 2020 Pan Am Cross Country Championship. Gary has coached 18 teams to a top-35 finish at the NCAA Championships, highlighted by seven top-15 team finishes. She has also coached teams to three region championships and 22 conference titles.

Furman’s Ben VanderWal is Southern Conference Student-Athlete of the Week.

VanderWal, a sophomore from Elmhurst, Ill., averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds per game to lead the Paladins to victories over VMI and Chattanooga.

The communication studies major, who sports a 4.0 GPA, posted career highs with 15 points and 13 rebounds in a 75-62 triumph over the Keydets before totaling nine points, seven boards and three assists in the Paladins’ 82-65 win over the Mocs.

Camryn Wennersten is Southern Conference women’s indoor track athlete of the week.

A sophomore from Ridgewood, N.J., Wennersten competed at the USC Indoor Open, where she placed second in the 800m with a personal-best time of 2:08.59.

Together with Nancy Cooper and the Heller Service Corps, the Furman Men’s Soccer team will host the Furman Soccer Extravaganza, a charity fundraiser for Down Syndrome awareness, on Thursday, April 11, at Stone Soccer Stadium.

Email Shannon Dobbin at Shannon.Dobbin@Furman.edu for more information or ways to support the event.

Junior attack Anna Roser is Big South Women’s Lacrosse Co-Offensive Player of the Week for games.
A native of Easton, Md., Roser totaled 11 goals in two games last week as Furman opened its season at home against No. 21 Clemson and Kennesaw State. She added four ground balls, three draws, and two caused turnovers.
Taylor Miller is Southern Conference Softball Pitcher of the Week.

 Miller, a freshman from Centennial, Colo., earned her first collegiate victory on Saturday in the Paladins’ 5-1 triumph over Towson in the Furman Invitational at Pepsi Stadium. In two starts as a Paladin, Miller has posted a 1-0 record and 1.75 earned run average.

Freshman Leonardo Dal Boni is Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Week.

“I call it ‘really bad soccer for a really good cause,'” stated Doug Allison, Furman men’s soccer coach. “I want to bring the whole of Furman’s campus together,” 

A native of Sarasota, Fla., Dal Boni collects his third Player of the Week accolade this season and fourth recognition overall. He was also tabbed the SoCon Men’s Tennis Player of the Month for January.
With the score tied at 3-all, Furman junior Ellie Schulson came from behind for a 5-7, 7-3, 6-3 victory over Marina Davtyan at flight three to lead Furman past Liberty, 4-3, Monday at Mickel Tennis Center.

Trailing 2-0 after dropping the doubles point, the Paladins answered with victories in three straight singles matches.  Marissa Pennings entered the lineup at flight six for Furman, where she beat Sadie Daavettila, 6-1, 6-4, then Macy Hitchcock posted a 6-1, 6-4 advantage over Maria Turchetto at number five. Grace Thomas came back for a three-set win at flight four, where she topped Daniella O’Neill, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, giving Furman a 3-2 lead in the contest, before Esther Lovato rallied for a 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over MaeveThornton at set two to tie the score at 3-apiece and set up the decisive flight three contest.
Furman (2-5) competes at the prestigious Blue Gray Tournament in Montgomery, Ala., Friday and Saturday.

Men’s tennis opened a seven-match road trip on Thursday afternoon, dropping a contest to Clemson, 6-1, at the Tigers’ Duckworth Family Tennis Facility.
The Paladins fall to 6-5 on the season while the Tigers improve to 6-4 overall.
Emil Westling put Furman on the board in his No. 4 match versus Mesarovic, winning in straight sets. The senior from Bjärred, Sweden collected his sixth win of the season, now tied for first on the team, following a 6-4, 6-2 triumph.

I’m mostly recovered from shingles at last. I’ve tried to keep up best I could. At least one story has been posted for 40 days, a record for the site. I’m strapped for cash but still writing as hard and resourcefully as I can.

A couple contributions arrived over the weekend. I can’t express my gratitude enough.

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