GREENVILLE, SC – UNC Greensboro extended their win streak to five against Furman with a 65-58 win in women’s basketball action at Timmons Arena. UNCG had three players in doubles-figures and was led by KaLeah Latham who posted her third double in the last four outings with 15 points and 15 rebounds.
Kirsten Boone and Jasmine Byrd were also in doubles-figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Jasmine Dixon, Brittany Frazier and Boone were UNCG’s next leading rebounders with three rebounds each.
“This was a tough game,” head coach Lynne Agee said. “We knew that they would play us tough at home and they did. Our post players did an excellent job of providing us points in the paint and KaLeah Latham did a great job of leading us this afternoon. I’m proud of the way that the team played together today.”
The Spartans shot 51.9 percent from the floor for the game on 27-of-52 shooting. UNCG also pulled down 38 rebounds and had 18 assists.
Furman was led by Kali Holtfreter and Melissa Leibschwager who had 12 and 10 points, respectively. Maggie McKemie led Furman with seven rebounds.
UNCG started the second half right where it finished the first half going on an early 4-0 run to extend their lead to 32-20. Furman got their first points of the half behind two Katie Johnson free throws but it was the Spartans that kept rattling off the points. Latham and Meghan Chamberlain were a force on the inside combining for all of the Spartans 10 points in the first five minutes of the half.
UNCG found a spark off of the bench in Kemena Brooks, who came in and scored two three-pointers, and Gini Grimsley and Brittany Frazier who also tallied buckets as the Spartans extended their lead to 48-30 at the 11:17 mark. Furman found their offense and were able to score four buckets to take cut the UNCG lead to 36-50 points with eight minutes remaining.
Furman made it a game in the games final five minutes going on a 8-0 run to cut the lead to 44-50 with just under six minutes remaining but two back-to-back UNCG buckets pushed the lead back to 10 points. Sara Baker made things interesting draining a three from 15 feet to cut the lead to nine points with just under four minutes remaining.
UNCG’s pressure defense proved to be too much for Furman who committed three crucial turnovers in the games final three minutes of action as UNCG held on for a 65-58 win.
The Spartans started the second half slowly but were able to force Furman into several early miscues. Meghan Chamberlain got it going for UNCG on the inside with a bucket in the paint at the 18:19 mark giving UNCG the early lead.
UNCG was able to hold Furman without a field goal for the games first seven minutes but three unanswered Furman buckets gave the Paladins a 7-5 lead at the 11:54 mark. The Spartans weren’t discouraged and used their defense to get back in the game, forcing Furman into several miscues resulting in baskets on the other end.
UNCG regained the lead at the 7:12 mark behind a bucket in the paint by Chamberlain. They then rattled off three buckets to take a 21-17 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the first stanza.
The Spartans went on an 8-3 run to end the half, taking a 28-20 advantage into the lockeroom. UNCG shot 42.9 percent in the first half on 12-of-28 shooting and pulled down 19 rebounds.
The Spartans continue their road swing on Monday when they head to Statesboro to take on Georgia Southern. Tip is set for 5 pm.
AGATE
UNCG 65, FURMAN 58
UNCG (15-8, 8-4 SoCon)
Latham, Kaleah 7-9 1-2 15; Boone, Kristen 4-8 2-4 11; Byrd, Jasmine
4-13 0-010; Chamberlain, Meghan 4-6 0-0 8; Brooks, Kemena 2-3 1-2
7; Frazier, Brittany 2-5 1-3 5; Otamiri, Irene 2-4 0-0 4; Grimsley,
Gini 1-1 0-0 3; Dixon, Jasmine 1-2 0-0 2; Ling, Ashley 0-1 0-0 0;
Hyson, Lakiah 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-52 5-11 65.
FURMAN (7-16, 2-10 SoCon)
HOLTFRETER, Kali 4-7 2-4 12; LIEBSCHWAGER,Melissa 3-5 3-5 10;
PHELPS, Chrissy 3-11 3-4 9; BAKER, Sarah 3-8 1-1 9; MCKEMIE, Maggie
1-6 4-6 6; OPIE, Courtney 2-3 0-0 4; AGIN, Katie 1-1 2-2 4;
JOHNSON, Katie 1-1 2-2 4; LANGE, Jessica 0-3 0-0 0; GILMORE,
Adrienne 0-0 0-0 0; STEPHENS, Lee 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 18-48 17-24
58.
Halftime: UNCG 28-20. 3-point goals--UNCG 6-19 (Brooks, Kemena 2-3; Byrd, Jasmine 2-11; Boone, Kristen 1-1; Grimsley, Gini 1-1; Ling, Ashley 0-1; Otamiri, Irene 0-2), Furman 5-12 (BAKER, Sarah 2-5; HOLTFRETER, Kali 2-3; LIEBSCHWAGER,Melissa 1-2; STEPHENS, Lee 0-1; MCKEMIE, Maggie 0-1). Fouled out--UNCG-None, Furman-None. Rebounds--UNCG 38 (Latham, Kaleah 15), Furman 24 (MCKEMIE, Maggie 7). Assists--UNCG 18 (Boone, Kristen 4), Furman 11 (MCKEMIE, Maggie 3). Total fouls--UNCG 21, Furman 15. Technical fouls--UNCG-None, Furman-None. A-586
- UNCG -