GREENSBORO, NC – Junior guard Jasmine Byrd scored 20 points to lead UNC Greensboro to a convincing 72-48 victory over Southern Conference rival Furman in women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Fleming Gym. The win gives the Spartans a season sweep of the Lady Paladins for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign.
Byrd, the native of Dumfries, VA, connected on 8-of-12 shots from the field to lead the Spartans to their fifth win in the last six games. Sophomore guard Kristen Boone had 14 points and a career-high nine steals for UNCG (11-10, 7-5 SoCon). Sophomore center Meghan Chamberlain tossed in 12 points and had seven rebounds, while junior forward Irene Otamiri dished out a career-high seven assists.
Jessica Lange led Furman (7-15, 3-9 SoCon) with a career-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Chrissy Phelps added 10 points for the Lady Paladins. Sarah Baker pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
UNCG opened the second half with eight straight points to up its advantage to 39-20. That start led to the Spartans shooting an efficient 63.3 percent (19-of-30) from the field in the second half and 51.6 percent for the game.
Furman never got any closer than 14 points the rest of the way. UNCG’s largest lead of the game was 24 points, which came on three separate occasions in the final 4:33 of the game. The Spartans improved their record to 6-1 when scoring 70 or more points this season.
UNCG turned the ball over just 11 times, compared to 22 times for the Lady Paladins. The Spartans turned those miscues into 33 points. UNCG also held a 30-22 advantage in points in the paint and 14-0 in fast break points.
Similar to the first meeting of the year between the two schools, UNCG got off to a quick start by draining its first six shots to open a 15-2 lead at the 15:26 mark of the first half. Back on January 7, the Spartans grabbed a 22-7 lead, only to give it away, before securing a 69-66 road victory in Greenville,SC.
Byrd drilled four 3-pointers in the opening 7:51 to give the Spartans a 20-4 lead. UNCG would take its largest lead of the half, 27-9, on a trey by Boone with 7:08 showing on the clock. Furman would then close the half on an 11-4 run to get back into the game, trailing 31-20 at halftime.
Lange single-handedly kept Furman in the game with 15 points in the first half. On the other bench, Byrd paced UNCG with 14 points.
UNCG plays host to league foe Georgia Southern on Monday at 7 pm. Meanwhile, Furman hosts College of Charleston on Tuesday at 5 pm in Greenville, SC.
GAME NOTES: Jasmine Byrd posted her seventh career 20-point game... Kristen Boone entered the game second in the country in steals per game (4.6)... her previous single game-high was eight on three occasions... UNCG’s second half shooting percentage (63.3) was a season-high... Boone had her free throw steak snapped at 20 in a row... UNCG is now 7-1 on Saturdays.
AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO 72, FURMAN 48
FURMAN (7-15, 3-9 SoCon)
LANGE, Jessica 8-13 4-5 20; PHELPS, Chrissy 4-12 2-2 10; BAKER,
Sarah 2-3 1-2 7; AGIN, Katie 2-4 2-3 6; PARIS, Tommi 1-3 2-2 4;
WELLS, Princess 0-3 1-2 1; SCOTT, Megan 0-0 0-0 0; OPIE, Courtney
0-0 0-0 0; JOHNSON, Katie 0-2 0-0 0; GILMORE, Adrienne 0-0 0-0 0;
GANT, Melynda 0-0 0-0 0; LIEBSCHWAGER,Melissa 0-7 0-0 0. Totals
17-47 12-16 48.
UNC GREENSBORO (11-10, 7-5 SoCon)
BYRD, Jasmine 8-12 0-0 20; BOONE, Kristen 5-10 3-4 14; CHAMBERLAIN,
Meghan 6-10 0-1 12; LATHAM, KaLeah 4-8 0-0 8; CURRENT, Ashley 3-4
0-0 6; DIXON, Jasmine 3-4 0-1 6; OTAMIRI, Irene 2-5 0-0 4; BLAIR,
Caroline 1-1 0-0 2; GRIMSLEY, Gini 0-3 0-0 0; LING, Ashley 0-0 0-0
0; BROOKS, Kemena 0-5 0-0 0; MULLINS, Ashley 0-0 0-0 0; JACKSON,
Shanika 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-62 3-6 72.
Halftime: UNC Greensboro 31-20. 3-point goals-Furman 2-9 (BAKER, Sarah 2-2; PHELPS, Chrissy 0-3; WELLS, Princess 0-3; LIEBSCHWAGER,Melissa 0-1), UNC Greensboro 5-15 (BYRD, Jasmine 4-7; BOONE, Kristen 1-2; LATHAM, KaLeah 0-1; OTAMIRI, Irene 0-1; GRIMSLEY, Gini 0-2; BROOKS, Kemena 0-2). Fouled out--Furman-None, UNC Greensboro-None. Rebounds-Furman 34 (BAKER, Sarah 9), UNC Greensboro 31 (CHAMBERLAIN, Meghan 7). Assists-Furman 10 (PHELPS, Chrissy 4; LIEBSCHWAGER,Melissa 4), UNC Greensboro 18 (OTAMIRI, Irene 7). Total fouls-Furman 8, UNC Greensboro 15. A-257.
- UNCG -