I became violently ill during the Super Bowl. I’ve been ill a lot lately, and precious little has been in my mind. Most of it’s been in my abdomen.
If there was anything psychosomatic on Sunday, it was probably the Furman game in Chattanooga the day before. I had my hopes up before the Paladins wilted in the face of the Mocs’ rebounding domination during most of the second half – the numbers equalized down the stretch after the outcome was decided — of Saturday’s 85-72 Mocs victory. Frantic shot selection also played a role in the defeat.
Chattanooga has a fine team, but during the first half I really got my hopes up.

It’s not often that women’s basketball steals the men’s thunder at Furman.
That’s what happened on Saturday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, though, where the Paladins were upsetting Wofford while the men were losing at McKenzie Arena.
Jada Session scored 18 points, including a go-ahead layup in the second overtime. The Paladins hit their final six free-throw attempts, which is something the men rarely manage, in the 93-88 Southern Conference victory contested in front of 2,007 fans at the downtown venue.

The contest, which featured 53 fouls, 64 free throws, and included five foul disqualifications, took three hours to decide and saw Furman (13-11, 3-5 SoCon) gain the season split with Wofford (14-7, 6-2 SoCon).
Session’s go-ahead basket, a tip-in off a missed Jaelyn Acker 3-pointer, put Furman up, 84-82, less than a minute into the second extra frame. After Wofford’s Abby Privett converted one of two free throws, guard Bella LaChance drove the baseline for a layup to extend the Paladins’ lead to 86-83 with just over three minutes to go.
Evangelia Paul, who poured in a game-high 29 points, pulled Wofford to within 86-85 with a floating jumper at the 2:04 mark, but the Paladins countered with a Kate Johnson free throw for an 87-85 edge with 1:35 remaining.

Wofford’s ensuing possession ended with a missed shot and rebound by Acker, who put down a pair of free throws to give Furman an 89-85 lead. The Paladins then salted it away behind Johnson, who collected a rebound, a steal and two free throws in the final minute.
The decisive second overtime almost didn’t materialize after after Paulk bottomed out a 3-pointer to give the Terriers a 79-72 lead with 2:38 remaining in the first extra frame. Furman rallied, however behind baskets from freshmen Clare Coyle and Chantelle Stuart and a tip-in by Session that trimmed the lead to 79-78 at the 1:33 mark.

Wofford’s Privett drained one of two free throws to put the Terriers up, 82-80, with 24 seconds to go, but the Paladins responded on their final possession behind Coyle, who maneuvered in the lane for space and a 13-foot jump shot that deflected off the rim and collected on backboard before rolling through the net to tie the game at 82-82 as time expired.
The Paladins and Terriers were tied 70-70 for two and a half minutes late in the fourth quarter before guard Tate Walters converted a driving layup with two seconds remaining to give Furman the lead. Following a Wofford timeout, Paulk gathered in an in-bounds pass off the side of the lane and was fouled on her shot attempt, which she followed with a pair of free throws to send the game into overtime.

Furman outscored Wofford 27-14 in the second quarter to take a 45-31 lead into halftime, but the Terriers wasted little time in the third period in erasing the deficit. With Paulk tallying 12 points in the period, Wofford outscored the Paladins 27-10 for a 58-55 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
Session and Walters paced Furman with 18 points apiece, and Stuart followed with a season highs in points (14), assists (9), and rebounds (8) Coyle finished with 10 points. Session’s 11 rebounds was a game high and marked her third double-double of the season.

Furman’s .507 percent shooting performance (34/67) marked a season high versus a NCAA Division I foe helped offset 25 turnovers that Wofford converted into 24 points. The Terriers record 15 more shot attempts in the contest, making 26/82 (.317).

Wofford drained 29/37 free throws (.784) while Furman made good on 23/27 (.852).
While Furman holds a commanding 50-17 edge in the all-time series with Wofford,with including a 31-2 mark versus the Terriers in Greenville, Wofford entered the game with wins in six of the previous eight clashes. Furman head coach Pierre Curtis has split his four matchups against the Terriers.
Take a look at the stats here.

Chattanooga owned the second half on its home floor, outscoring the Paladins, 50-34, after Furman led, 38-35, at halftime.
The Mocs shot .580 in the second half, hit half their 3-pointers and 9/10 free throws while the Paladins’ countervailing numbers were .303, 4/23 and 10/14.
Furman dropped to 18-7 overall and 6-6 in league play. Chattanooga improved to 17-8 overall and 9-3 in the SoCon while completing the regular-season sweep of the Paladins.

Furman connected on 8/14 first-half three-point attempts to build a 38-35 halftime lead, but the Mocs used a 10-1 run midway through the second half to grab a 64-54 advantage when Honor Huff scored six straight points and Jack Kostel converted a layup with 10:29 to play. The Paladins got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Furman went cold in a hurry, hitting 8/14 first-half 3-pointers and 4/23 the rest of the way.
The good news for the Paladins is that they are 10-2 at home, and four of the remaining six games are at The Well.

“Hopefully, we get home, and we decide to go play defense,” said head coach Bob Richey. “That’s the deal at this level, all the regular-season stuff. It’s going to be one team win in Asheville. The other nine are going to be miserable all off-season, You don’t get multiple bids in this league
Garrison Keeslar led the Mocs with 15 points while Frank Champion and Trey Bonham contributed 14 points apiece. Huff finished with 12 points and Kostel added 10 to give Chattanooga five players in double figures.
The Mocs shot .485, went 9/19 from long range and 12/15 at the foul line. Chattanooga outscored Furman 44-24 in the paint and registered 17 points off 10 Paladin turnovers.

Senior PJay Smith Jr. led the Paladins with 22 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists. Sophomore Cooper Bowser added 14 points and seven boards.
The Paladins are back in action on Wednesday night when they host Mercer at 7 p.m. at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
“We hold them to 34 in the first half, and then they get 50 in the second half,” said Richey to radio voice Dan Scott, “and unfortunately we didn’t come back out with the intensity to guard.
“We had a couple guys who didn’t have enough intensity to start the game, and we decided to go with some guys we felt like were playing hard, but unfortunately we weren’t able to sustain it.”
Take a look at the stats here.
Support the advertisers. They are all fine people who want their businesses associated with honest coverage of local sports. I appreciate them sticking with me as I get back up to speed.

I’m getting a little stronger, but I tire easily. Energy remains a problem.
In the off chance you’d like to read my novels and other books, they’re available on Amazon and many prominent bookseller sites.
You can read them on your phones and other devices for a modest cost. I make a bit more if you purchase the actual books, but what I mainly want is for folks to read them.
Illness has left me with some some uncovered medical expenses. I hope to sell off some memorabilia I’ve accumulated over the years. First I’ve got to get well. Perhaps you’d be interested in purchasing an autographed photo of Merle Haggard, or Sir Jackie Stewart, or Jimmie Foxx, or Buddy Hackett, or Mario Andretti, or Carl Reiner, or Sid Luckman, or some historic NASCAR posters.