Women’s Basketball Drops Season-Series to Furman, 62-57

Monday, February 21

Davidson, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Davidson College

12-16, 7-12SoCon

Furman

13-15, 9-10SoCon

Furman

Davidson

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Women’s Basketball Drops Season-Series to Furman, 62-57

2/21/2011 10:28:35 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Gavin McFarlin -- Assistant SID

DAVIDSON, N.C. — Furman used a 12-2 run to grab the lead for good at the end of the first half and then held off a late charging Wildcat team in the second period in downing Davidson, 62-57, on Monday evening at John M. Belk Arena in Southern Conference women's basketball action.

The Wildcats, winners of five of their last six home games entering the contest, fell to 12-16 overall and 7-12 in league play. Furman, which earned the two-game season-series sweep, won its third straight in the all-time series and ran its overall record to 13-15, 9-10 in the SoCon.

Senior Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) paced all scorers with 16 points, while Laura Murray (Harrisburg, Pa.) continued her double-figure streak at home with 10 points. The freshman guard has now scored in double digits at home in nine straight games.

Sophia Aleksandravicius (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) helped Davidson to a 44-37 edge on the boards by hauling in 10 rebounds, the third straight game she's had 10-plus. She is averaging 12.4 rebounds a game in the last seven contests, hitting for double-digits in six of them.

Kristen Johnsen (Wayne, Pa.) assisted Aleksandravicius on the boards with nine to go along with seven points.

Davidson dished out a game-best 17 assists with Barbara Sitton (Richmond, Va.) picking up a game-high eight of them.

Furman put a pair in double figures, with Kaitlin Murphy netting 13 points and Kendra Berry getting 10.

Much like the first meeting, Furman grabbed a big lead, only to see the Wildcats come back on a late run, but once again, time was not on Davidson's side.

The Wildcats opened up an 11-4 lead to start the game and were still up, 19-16, after a Katrin Chiemeka (Marienthal, France) layup with 9:40 left in the first half.

Davidson then went cold, missing its next 11 shots and Furman took advantage. The Paladins grabbed the lead with a 12-2 run in the last nine minutes of the half for a 28-21 lead at the break.

Down by as many as 11 points twice in the second half, the Wildcats started their comeback in a six-minute span by rattling off a 14-5 run, started by a Murray triple and closed out by a bucket inside from Jasmine Calin (Miami, Fla.), to close the gap at 47-45 with 7:37 on the clock. Calin finished with nine points off the bench, eight of them coming in the second half.

Furman answered back though, as Murphy started a 10-3 run with a running layup in the lane and Berry finished it off with free throw to give the Paladins a nine-point lead, 57-48, with 3:23 left.

With one last effort, the 'Cats got it back down to three points when Lax was fouled on a three-point attempt and swished home all three free throws to bring the score to 59-56 with 1:10 left.

But, the Paladin's got an offensive rebound from Berry on their next possession after a missed jumper and converted on their second-chance opportunity for a 61-56 lead. Murphy sealed the win after Jasmine Calin went 1-of-2 at the charity stripe with a single free throw and time ran out on the 'Cats.

Davidson closes out the regular season with a 4 p.m. contest against Wofford on Sunday, Feb. 27.

GAME NOTE: Aleksandravicius' had her 21st career 10-rebound game … the sophomore, who had four blocks in the game, was honored prior to the contest for breaking the all-time blocks record on Saturday ... with her three field goals, Aleksandravicius set the single-season record for made field goals with 176, breaking Jennifer O'Brien's record of 175 set during the 1999-00 season ... Lax is 39 points away from reaching the 1,000-point mark for her career ... Davidson had its 10th 40-rebound game of the season ... 17 of those rebounds were on offense.