Late Comeback Not Enough, Davidson Falls to Furman 60-52

Wednesday, February 9

Greenville, S.C.

7:00 p.m.

Davidson College

11-13, 6-9SoCon

Furman

10-14, 6-9SoCon

Davidson

Furman

Photo by: Sideline Sports

Late Comeback Not Enough, Davidson Falls to Furman 60-52

2/9/2011 9:46:40 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Gavin McFarlin -- Assistant SID

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Furman's Kelly O'Connor and Kaitlin Murphy combined for 41 points and Davidson was unable to overcome a 16-point second-half deficit despite a late run and the Wildcats fell on the road, 60-52, in a Southern Conference women's basketball game in Timmons Arena.

Davidson, after winning five of six games when it defeated Elon, Jan. 31, has now dropped three of its past four to fall to 11-13 overall and 6-9 in the SoCon. Furman moved to 10-14 and tied the 'Cats at 6-9 in league play.

O'Connor had a game-high 24 points to pace the Paladins, while Murphy poured in 17. Both guards combined to hit all seven of Furman's treys, with O'Connor canning five of her eight field goals from downtown.

Each of them were instrumental in guiding the Paladins to the win. Murphy did her damage in the first half with 13 points, while O'Connor went off for 16 points in the second period, including scoring 13 of those to open the new stanza and give Furman a 48-32 lead with 11:31 remaining.

But the 'Cats never backed down, going on a 14-2 run, sparked by Sophia Aleksandravicius' (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) seven points, and they were within four, 50-46, after Kristen Johnsen (Wayne, Pa.) hit a short bucket inside with 3:12 on the clock. Johnsen had eight points and nine rebounds on the evening.

Aleksandravicius registered her second straight double-double with 11 points and 13 boards, her third game in a row in double figures in rebounds. Senior Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.), who started the run with a three-ball, led Davidson with 12 points.

Davidson though hit just three of its next nine field goals in trying to close the gap in the last three minutes and got no closer than five the rest of the way.

The Wildcats could never shake their shooting woes, hitting just 33.9 percent for the game. Their defense did hold their ninth opponent on the year under 35 percent shooting as Furman shot just 30.6 percent (19-62).

Davidson held an early 13-12 lead in the first half after Lax hit a pair of free throws at the 12:06 mark, but the Wildcats scored just 10 more points the remainder of the half. Meanwhile, Furman's Kaitlin Murphy helped the Paladins grab 25-18 edge by scoring 11 of the Paladins' next 13 points, including a pair of triples, forcing Davidson to burn a timeout with a little over five minutes left.

Two free throws by Murphy and an uncontested layup from Furman's Martha Robinson in the final minute of the first half had the 'Cats down 31-22 going into the break.

Davidson finishes out its final regular seasond road contests and closes out its four-game road trip, its longest of the season, with matchups at Chattanooga (Feb 12, 6 p.m) and Samford (Feb. 14, 8 p.m.).

GAME NOTE: Aleksandravicius' has 16 career double-doubles … The 'Cats are in the midst of a stretch where they play seven games in 15 days, with this being game No. 5 … the Wildcats are also in the midst of play eight of 10 games on the road from Jan. 22 to Feb. 14 ... Davidson had its eighth game of the year with 40 rebounds, hauling in 44, but gave up 49 to the Paladins with 23 of those coming on the offensive side.