Tuesday was a busy day in the Furman athletics department.

The Paladins earned All-Southern Conference decorations in women’s basketball, produced quality performances in men’s and women’s golf, North Carolina overpowered Furman in softball, and women’s tennis lost the first match in its spring-break trip to Florida.

Four Furman women’s basketball players, three on the All-SoCon team and a fourth winning a major award.

Junior forwards Jada Session and Kate Johnson and redshirt sophomore guard Niveya Henley were voted All-SoCon in balloting by league head coaches and media, and redshirt junior guard Tate Walters was selected as the recipient of the SoCon’s Ann Lashley Inspiration Award.

Session collected second-team All-SoCon honors in separate ballots by coaches and media after starting in all 30 games and leading Furman in both scoring (12.3 ppg) and rebounding (8.1 rpg). The 6- 1, Locust Grove, Ga., product scored a career-high 21 points in a 73-47 win over Elon on Dec. 14, 2023, and tallied 19 points and career-best 16 rebounds in a 74-72 victory over Binghamton on Nov. 25.

Johnson, a 6- 3 Canton, Ga., native, earned second-team All-SoCon laurels in media voting after posting an impressive campaign that saw her improve her numbers to 11.5 points per game and 6.7 rebounds. Her .606 field goal percentage topped the SoCon.

Henley’s selection to the media third team capped a comeback season after missing the 2022-23 campaign with a knee injury. In averaging 11.0 points and 4.2 rebounds, the 6-0 Seattle, Wash., product saw action in all 30 games and logged 12 starts.  She scored 18 points in her return debut, a season opening 71-61 triumph over UNC Asheville, and had a career-high 24 points against UNC Greensboro on Feb. 8.

Walters is the third Furman player to capture the SoCon’s Ann Lashley Inspiration Award, presented annually to a current women’s basketball player or coach at a Southern Conference institution who, when challenged by a life-altering situation, used grace, perseverance, dedication and determination to face the event and serve as a role model.  The award is named for late Elon women’s basketball assistant coach Ann Lashley.

Anna Morgan (-1) tied for ninth Tuesday at The Show at Spanish Trail, which the Paladins co-hosted with UNLV at the par-72, 6,537-yard Spanish Trail Country Club in Las Vegas, Nev. 

A senior from Spartanburg, Morgan teed off on No. 12 in the shotgun start and turned at 1-over then birdied three of her first six holes after the turn to finish the round with a 73. She concluded the tournament six strokes behind individual medalist Zoe Campos (-7) of UCLA, who won the event by three strokes with a 209 total.

Freshman Audrey Ryu (+4) tied for 19th after leading the Paladins with a 1-under 71 and a team-high four birdies in the final round.

No. 3 UCLA (-6) and 29th-ranked SMU (-6) tied for the team title after smoking the field with a 284 and 283, respectively, on Tuesday. No. 24 Virginia (+7) finished third, followed by 27th-ranked Purdue (+12) and No. 23 Pepperdine (+12), who tied for fourth. The Paladins (+46) finished 12th.

Furman competes at the Valspar Augusta (Ga.) Invitational, March 9-10.

Morgan is included on the ANNIKA Award, presented by Stifel, spring watch list, as announced by Golfweek and Golf Channel.  

Morgan has a 68.6 stroke average over 18 rounds of play this season.  She has recorded five top-5 finishes in six events, including victories at the Lady Paladin Invitational, Landfall Tradition, and Lady Puerto Rico Classic. Morgan’s victory at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic was the seventh win of her Furman career, extending her school record for individual wins.

Morgan was named the Southern Conference Female Athlete of the Year and SoCon Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and earned All-SoCon honors for the third-straight year in 2022-23.  She led the league with a 72.43 stroke average over 35 rounds after winning individual medalist honors at the SoCon Championship and went on to tie for tenth at the NCAA Athens Regional.  

Created in 2014, the award presented by Stifel is annually given to the top female Division 1 collegiate golfer, with the winner being voted on by players, coaches and members of the college golf media. Furman’s Natalie Srinivasan captured the ANNIKA Award in 2020, and Paladin Brad Faxon won the Fred Haskins Award in 1983.

Junior Trey Diehl (+3) tied for eighth to lead the Furman men’s golf team to a third-place finish at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate, which was hosted by USC Aiken this week at the par-70, 6,617-yard Palmetto Golf Club.

A native of Orlando, Fla., Diehl teed off on No. 5 in the shotgun start and birdied three holes on the back to turn at even par.  After posting an additional birdie on No. 4, he concluded the round with an even 70. 

Diehl was one of four Paladins to finish among the top 26.  Sophomore Harris Barth (+4) birdied three straight from No. 8-10 on Tuesday to finish 11th with a final-round 72, and senior Ross Funderburke (+7) also recorded a 72 with three birdies to tie for 22nd.  Junior Will Morlan (+9) tied for 26th after carding a 75 with birdies on No. 5 and No. 14 in the final round.  

Rory McDonald O’Brien (-3) of USC Aiken won the tournament by one stroke with a three-round total of 69-68-70=207.

Davidson (+5) led the field with a 279 on Tuesday to win the title.  Host USC Aiken (+11) finished second, followed by the Paladins (+19) in third. East Carolina (+20) placed fourth, and Virginia Tech (+24) took fifth.  

The Paladins compete at the General Hackler Championship in Myrtle Beach on March 18-20.

Alex Coleman reached base safely five times and Sanaa Thompson drove in six runs to lead North Carolina to a 13-5 victory over Furman on Wednesday evening at Anderson Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The Tar Heels (17-3) scored multiple runs in every inning, including four in the bottom half of the first, and took advantage of 10 walks and three Paladin miscues in the field to secure the victory. Coleman drew the first of five first-inning walks to lead off the bottom of the first and Thompson launched a three-run blast off the left-field foul pole two batters later to stake North Carolina to a 3-0 lead.

 Furman starter Taylor Miller (1-3), who allowed all four runs in the opening frame without retiring a batter, took the loss for the Paladins. She walked three of the four batters she faced, and all four came around to score.

Furman put together a five-run top of the fourth. Ashlee Lykins and Sylvia Burroughs worked walks to start the frame before the Paladins got on the board on Kiley Perry’s single to center field. Following a strikeout and a walk, which loaded the bases, Hannah Poole bounced an RBI single into center to chase starter Britton Rogers from the game. Christina McCoy batted in a run with a groundout, and Caitlin Goldwait reached on an error on an infield chopper that allowed two more Paladins to cross the plate and slice the margin to 8-5.

North Carolina answered quickly, however, in the bottom of the fourth with three runs. Furman failed to retire a batter in the fifth as a base on balls, two singles, and fielder’s choice helped the Tar Heels score two more runs to end the game via run rule.

Rogers (7-0), who allowed three earned runs on two hits and four walks over 3-1/3 innings, earned the victory. She gave up five total runs while fanning three batters.

Perry and Poole recorded Furman’s only hits. Burroughs drew a pair of walks and Lykins also drew a base on balls to reach base safely for the 16^th consecutive game.

The Paladins (10-9) are back in action this weekend, March 8-10, at Georgia’s Bulldog Classic in Athens, Ga. Furman opens tournament play on Friday at 3:30 p.m. versus Jacksonville (Ala.) State.

Florida Atlantic topped Furman, 5-2, Tuesday to open the Paladins’ spring break trip at the Kimberly V. Strauss Tennis Center in Boca Raton, Fla.

The Paladins (2-9) scored at flights three and four singles.  Junior Ellie Schulson came from behind for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Carla Galmiche at No. 3, and junior Grace Thomas held off Lexi Silna, 7-5, 6-4, at No. 4.  

The Owls (10-1) won two of three doubles matches to score the opening point.

Furman squares off with North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., on Thursday at 10 a.m.

Furman junior Elijah Poritzky is Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Week for matches played Feb. 27-March 4.

A native of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Poritzky combined for two wins at the top singles and doubles positions to help lead Furman to a 6-1 victory in its SoCon opener at UNC Greensboro on March 1. The win marked the Paladins’ 11^th consecutive conference-opening victory dating back to the 2014 season.

I could stand some assistance for the impending Asheville trip.

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