While the crowds gathered for two final regular-season basketball games, Friday rain made sports activity prevalent on campus Saturday.

As it turned out, Timmons Arena, as now configured, did, in fact, go out with a victory.

The final game, until the fall of 2025, was played by Pierre Curtis’s women’s basketball team, which came from 10 points down in the final quarter to conquer East Tennessee State, 67-59, on Saturday evening after Mercer defeated the men, 82-75, in the afternoon.

Furman (15-15, 5-9 SoCon), trailing by eight points after three quarters, got a boost from a familiar source, Tate Walters, who score 10 of her 11 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of three-pointers.

Curtis’s first season at the helm featured a four-game improvement over Jackie Carson’s final, 11-19, season. The Paladins won two more SoCon games.

Furman takes the No. 7 seed into SoCon Tournament play on Thursday, when the Paladins face No. 2 seed UNC Greensboro in a 1:15 p.m. first-round matchup at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.

The Paladins’ likelihood of finishing the regular season at .500 looked bleak after three quarters with ETSU holding a 46-38 lead, but the fourth period was a completely different story as Furman came off the mat to score 29 points and swamp the Buccaneers.

Trailing 50-40 a little over a minute into the final quarter, Furman caught fire behind senior forward Sydney James, whose two free throws and a pair of 3-pointers accounted for eight points in an 11-1 Paladin run that tied the game at 51-51 on a James trey with 5:22 remaining.

After ETSU blunted the run with a pair of baskets to go up, 55-51, Walters answered with her first of two 3-pointers in the quarter to cut it to 55-54 with three minutes to go.

The Paladins then capitalized on a Buccaneer turnover to grab their first lead since the second quarter. Sydney Ryan drilled a 3-pointer off an assist by Walters for a 57-56 advantage.

 Kate Johnson converted a layup off another Walters assist to make it 59-56,and Walters finished the 10-1 flourish with her own layup to stretch the advantage to 61-56.

After Journee McDaniel’s three-point play sliced the lead to 64-59 with 46 seconds remaining, Walters buried a step-back triple from well beyond the top of circle as the shot clock expired to effectively secure the win.

Walters’ big fourth quarter helped her finish the contest with 11 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists, the nine boards matching a career high and eight dishes upping her career total to 232, good for ninth in Furman history.

Ryan led all scorers with 15 on the strength of 5/7 shooting from long range, which highlighted 10/18 work (.556) by the Paladins from beyond the arc.

Johnson followed Ryan with 14 points, and Jada Session finished with 12 points.

James finished with eight points, all of which came in the decisive fourth quarter.

ETSU led 37-30 at halftime after converting 8/17 three-point attempts, but the Bucs’ only went 1/11 from range over the game’s final 20 minutes.

Nevaeh Brown paced ETSU with 13 points, and Courtney Moore finished with 12.

Furman piled up a 44-32 edge in rebounding, including a 30-20 edge on the defensive glass.

Take a look at the stats here.

Finally freed from rain, the Paladins split their Saturday games in the Paladin Softball Classic at Pepsi Stadium.

Akron edged the Paladins, 6-5, in extra innings in Furman’s first game of the weekend after the Zips fell to South Dakota, 3-1, in the tournament opener.

In the nightcap, Taylor Miller and Lauralee Scott combined to hold South Dakota to just two runs on four hits over seven innings to help the Paladins up the record to 10-6 with a 3-2 decision.

The Coyotes of Vermillion, S.D., took a third-inning lead on a squeeze play, but Furman responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Alex Rose Molinar reached base on a leadoff single and scored on Yoshizumi’s two-out double into the gap. Following a single by Lykins that put runners on the corners, Ainsley Yoshizumi sprinted home on a double steal to give the Paladins a 2-1 lead.

The Coyotes used three singles in the fourth inning to knot the contest at 2-2, but Furman answered with the deciding run in the bottom half of the fifth. Ashlee Lykins reached base on a two-out bunt single and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Burroughs laced a grounder to third base that was picked cleanly but the throw to first sailed wide allowing Lykins to cross the plate with the eventual winning run.

 Scott, who entered the game in the top of the fifth, retired all nine batters she faced to improve to 3-0 in the circle. Miller surrendered two runs on four hits in four innings of work as the Paladins’ starter.

Lykins and Molinar each went 2/3 at the plate for the Paladins.

Madi Mangulis (1-1) took the loss after allowing an unearned run on three hits in two innings of relief for the Coyotes.

In the opener Furman rallied from a 5-0 deficit to force extra innings, but the Akron Zips pulled out a 6-5 victory in eight innings.

 Akron’s Sophia Wygast belted a three-run homer in the top of the third inning and added a solo shot in the fifth to extend the Zips’ advantage to 5-0 against Paladin starter Sierra Tufts. After Furman started the bottom of the fifth with three consecutive singles, Sylvia Burroughs chased home a run with a sacrifice fly and Kiley Perry trimmed the margin to 5-2 with an RBI single. Akron reliever Macy Walters retired Hannah Poole and Scott with runners on to keep the Zips in front.

Trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Yoshizumi began the inning with a single to right field and Lykins followed with a single to center. Burroughs lined a single to right-center to drive in her second run of the game. After reliever Haley Croyle hit Perry to load the bases and fanned Poole, pinch hitter Caitlin Goldwait lined a two-run single to right-center to even the game at 5-5. Croyle, however, retired the next two batters to force extra innings.

Delaney Jenkinson reached on a leadoff single for Akron in the top of the eighth and later scored on Lily Sullivan’s infield grounder. Chloe Fabio started the bottom of the eighth with a single for the Paladins, who eventually loaded the bases with a two-out walk from Burroughs and an infield single from Perry, but Croyle induced a grounder back to the circle to end the game.

Croyle scattered three hits over two scoreless innings of relief to earn the win while Furman’s Angelina Ricciardi (0-2) took the loss after allowing one run on two hits over 3-2/3 innings of work.

Wygast went 2/4 with a pair of homers and four RBIs for the Zips. Yoshizumi, Lykins, Burroughs, Perry and Fabio each collected a pair of the Paladins’ 12 hits.

The tournament continues Sunday with Akron and South Dakota facing off at 10 a.m. before Furman faces the Coyotes at 12:30 p.m. Sunday’s slate concludes with the Paladins and the Zips squaring off at 3 p.m.

James Madison defeated the Furman lacrosse team, 21-9, which was not unexpected as the Dukes (6-0) are ranked second nationally.

Paige Harman tied her season highs with five points, three assists, and two goals to lead the Paladins offensively. Hannah Dintino added two goals. Sophie Shaw provided two points on a goal and assist. In goal, Lily Rathbun had six saves and two caused turnovers, and tied a school record with a career-best eight ground balls.
Isabella Peterson led the Dukes with five goals and Katelyn Morgan turned in four points with three goals and an assist. Maddie Epke tied Peterson with five points after totaling three assists and two goals. In goal, Caitlin Boden registered four saves.
Anna Roser gave Furman a brief lead with her goal less than three minutes into the contest before James Madison scored four straight to go ahead by three. Harman netted her first goal of the contest with less than a minute left in the first quarter to cut the Paladins’ deficit to 4-2.

The Dukes outscored Furman 6-2 in the second quarter to take a 10-4 lead into halftime. The Paladins got third-quarter goals from Shaw, Harman and Audrey Smith, and finished the period scoring two out of the last three. Shaw’s goal with 8:33 left in the third got Furman to within seven at 12-5.
The teams traded the first four goals of the fourth quarter with Roser’s second of the game at the 8:44 mark putting the score at 17-9. James Madison closed out the game on a 4-0 run, covering the last 7:26, to record the 12-goal victory.
Furman heads to Eugene, Ore., next Sunday, March 10, for its first-ever meeting against the Oregon Ducks at 2 p.m. EST. 

In Greensboro, N.C., Furman won its first SoCon men’s tennis victory with a 6-1 verdict over UNC Greensboro Spartans on Friday at Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.
Furman (7-7, 1-0) evens its record at 7-7 overall and improves to 1-0 in the SoCon.

The Paladins won the doubles point and 5/6 singles matches.

UNC Greensboro (3-5, 0-2) won at No. 5 as Tejas Wall (UNCG) defeated Connor Laymon 6-1, 6-1.
The Paladins captured wins in 2/3 doubles matches at No. 1 and No. 3. Playing at No. 1, Thomas Kennedy and Elijah Poritzky edged Christopher Johns and Tymofiy Khrystyuk, 7-5, for their team-leading seventh win of the season. The No. 3 combination of Connor Laymon and Emil Westling, playing together for the first time this season, registered a 6-3 triumph.

The Paladins followed in singles play by winning five of the six matches to secure the 6-1 victory. Furman received wins from Poritzky (No. 1), Kennedy (2), Westling (3), John Rado (4), and Walker Allen (6).
Poritzky, Rado, and Allen both held off their opponents for three-set victories. Furman is off until March 16-17, when it travels to Birmingham, Ala. to face UAB before stepping back into league play at Samford.

I could stand some assistance for the impending Asheville trip.

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