Wildcats' Win Streak Snapped at Furman, 70-66

Monday, February 25

Greenville, S.C.

7 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

at Furman

Senior Katie Hamilton was one of nine Wildcats to etch their name in the scorer's book.

Wildcats' Win Streak Snapped at Furman, 70-66

2/25/2008 7:59:41 PM | Women's Basketball

Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID

Box Score

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- The Davidson women's basketball team saw its four-game win streak come to an end as Furman used 10 three-pointers and held off a late Wildcat attack in the final period to take a 70-66 win on Monday evening in Southern Conference action.

Davidson, who is fighting for the No. 3 seed in the upcoming SoCon tournament, dropped to 17-10 overall and 11-5 in league play. The Wildcats trail Georgia Southern, who is in action tonight against Chattanooga, by one game. Furman ran its overall mark to 9-18, and 4-12 in SoCon action.

Sophomore Alex Thompson led three 'Cats in double figures with 13 points, nine of them coming in the second half when her three-point play helped Davidson had cut a 12-point Paladin lead down to one-point, 63-62, at the 2:11 mark. A 20-10 run over a nine-minute stretch assisted the Wildcats in cutting the lead to one.

After two Furman free throws, senior Danielle Hemerka brought the Wildcats back to within two at 65-63 with a free throw and 1:17 on the clock. Hemerka moved into seventh place on the all-time on scoring list with her 11 points, pushing the senior's career total to 1,083. The senior also added a team-high eight boards.

Davidson got no closer the rest of the way though, as the Paladins hit five of their last seven free throw attempts to seal the victory at 70-66 and take its second win at home against the Wildcats in the past three meetings.

Furman's league-leading three-point and free throw shooting was on full display all night. The Paladins, who hit an average of 36.7 percent of their three-balls, finished 10-of-20 from downtown and then missed just four free throws in closing out at 18-for-22.

Like its previous two road games at Appalachian State and Wofford, Davidson fell into a double-digit hole and had to fight its way back all game. Five early three-pointers, including three from Melissa Liebschwager with her last one coming at the 9:01 mark, helped Furman grab a 23-16 advantage. Liebschwager added one more trey on the evening and tied Chrissy Phelps for game-high honors with 14 points apiece.

Furman's sixth trey of the half pushed the Paladin led to 12 at 28-16, forcing Davidosn to burn a 30-secod timeout at the 7:23.

Davidson finally got going in the late stages of th first half as sophomore Julia Paquette dropped in four of her eight first-half points in the last three minutes to bring Davidson within eight at halftime, 36-28. Paquette rounded out the Wildcat scorer's in double figures with 12 points.

The Wildcats nearly matched Furman at the charity stripe, hitting 17-of-21, and shot 48 percent overall from the floor in the game.

The Wildcats close out their final road game of the season with a trip to Statesboro, Ga. for a 7 p.m. game against Georgia Southern on Thursday, Feb. 28. Davidson open SoCon play against GSU on Nov. 29 and earned a 62-56 win. The victory was Davidson's ninth straight against the Eagles dating back to January 3, 2004.

Game Notes: Thompson, who finished 5-of-5 from the free throw line, has hit her last 27 straight in a five-game stretch... Senior Honna Housley pocketed a season-high four steals... Freshman Kelsey Cary's three-pointer in the final seconds was the Wildcats' lone three-ball to push its streak to 217 straight games with at least one trey... Hemerka is just four boards away from 700 for her career, third-best all-time.