GREENVILLE, SC – The UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team avoided its first ever 0-3 start to conference play and snapped a four-game losing streak with a thrilling 69-66 victory over Furman in Southern Conference action Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
Junior guard Jasmine Byrd scored 13 points to lead UNCG (5-7, 1-2 SoCon). Junior forward Irene Otamiri scored 12 points and had a career-high five assists. Junior forward KaLeah Latham scored 10 points before fouling out with 1:22 left in regulation and sophomore guard Kristen Boone had nine points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Lauren Few led Furman (7-7, 3-1 SoCon) with a game-high 16 points. Tommi Paris had 13 points before picking up her fifth foul with 54 seconds remaining in the second half. Melynda Gant and Jessica Lange contributed 11 and 10 points respectively.
Sophomore forward Jasmine Dixon canned two free throws with 54 seconds left in regulation and sophomore center Meghan Chamberlain, who had nine points and 10 rebounds, connected on another from the free throw line with three ticks left to give UNCG the 69-66 win.
Furman began the second half with a 20-6 run that brought the Lady Paladins to within four points, 46-42, with 13:04 to go after trailing by 18 points at the half. Paris led the way with seven points.
Chamberlain and freshman Ashley Mullins answered with back-to-back buckets for the Spartans to put them up 50-42 at the 11:37 mark. At the 8:08 mark, Boone stole the ball and went the length of the floor to give UNCG a 59-49 advantage.
Furman put together a 16-5 run to take its first lead since the opening minutes of the game, 65-64, on a traditional 3-point play with 1:22 to go by Gant.
The Spartans held Furman to just three field goals in the opening 10 minutes of the first half and in the process, built a 22-7 lead by the 9:35 mark after the first of Byrd’s three treys in the half. UNCG used a dominating 30-13 advantage on the boards to build its lead to as many as 20 points, 40-20, after a steal by Boone, who then found Otamiri for a breakaway layup with 49 seconds left until halftime.
The 40-22 intermission lead tied for the Spartans largest halftime advantage of the season, which was set against Campbell on December 10.
Furman would take an early 5-2 lead after a 3-pointer by Jessica Lange, but UNCG exploded for a 20-2 run to take a 22-7 lead. Latham started the spurt with a free throw and Byrd capped it with a trey.
Byrd, the native of Dumfries, VA, scored 11 points in the opening 20 minutes to lead all scorers, followed by eight points by Otamiri, the product of Lund, Sweden. All 13 players saw action for the Spartans in the first half.
UNCG continues its two-game SoCon road swing on Monday at Georgia Southern. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 pm in Statesboro, GA. The game will air on a tape delay basis at 9 pm on Comcast Charter (CSS). Meanwhile, Furman visits conference foe College of Charleston on Monday at 7 pm in Charleston, SC.
GAME NOTES: Irene Otamiri is the only player to start all 12 games this season... Meghan Chamberlain entered the game fourth in the SoCon with 1.27 blocks per game... Kristen Boone extended her steals streak to 36 straight games... Meghan Chamberlain hauled in a career-high 10 rebounds... UNCG held a decisive 50-28 advantage on the boards.
AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO 69, FURMAN 66
UNC GREENSBORO (5-7, 1-2 SoCon)
BYRD, Jasmine 5-14 0-0 13; OTAMIRI, Irene 5-10 2-3 12; LATHAM,
KaLeah 2-5 5-6 10; BOONE, Kristen 2-5 4-6 9; CHAMBERLAIN, Meghan
4-8 1-2 9; MULLINS, Ashley 2-3 0-0 5; DIXON, Jasmine 1-3 2-2 4;
CURRENT, Ashley 1-2 2-2 4; LING, Ashley 1-2 0-0 2; BROOKS, Kemena
0-3 1-2 1; GRIMSLEY, Gini 0-2 0-0 0; BLAIR, Caroline 0-1 0-0 0;
JACKSON, Shanika 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-59 17-23 69.
FURMAN (7-7, 3-1 SoCon)
FEW, Lauren 6-14 1-2 16; PARIS, Tommi 5-12 1-1 13; GANT, Melynda
4-6 3-6 11; LANGE, Jessica 4-7 2-2 10; SCOTT, Megan 3-5 0-0 6;
LIEBSCHWAGER,Melissa 2-5 0-0 6; BAKER, Sarah 1-3 0-0 2; PHELPS,
Chrissy 1-6 0-1 2; AGIN, Katie 0-0 0-0 0; JOHNSON, Katie 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 26-60 7-12 66.
Halftime: UNCG 40-22. 3-point goals-UNC Greensboro 6-21 (BYRD, Jasmine 3-10; BOONE, Kristen 1-1; MULLINS, Ashley 1-2; LATHAM, KaLeah 1-1; BROOKS, Kemena 0-3; GRIMSLEY, Gini 0-2; OTAMIRI, Irene 0-2), Furman 7-20 (FEW, Lauren 3-7; PARIS, Tommi 2-4; LIEBSCHWAGER,Melissa 2-5; BAKER, Sarah 0-1; PHELPS, Chrissy 0-2; GANT, Melynda 0-1). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-LATHAM, KaLeah, Furman-PARIS, Tommi. Rebounds-UNC Greensboro 50 (CHAMBERLAIN, Meghan 10), Furman 28 (SCOTT, Megan 6; LANGE, Jessica 6). Assists-UNC Greensboro 16 (BOONE, Kristen 5; OTAMIRI, Irene 5), Furman 16 (FEW, Lauren 6). Total fouls-UNC Greensboro 20, Furman 20. A-247.
- UNCG -