March 2, 2001

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Western Carolina's women's basketball team fell to Furman's Lady Paladins 77-59 in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Tournament, Friday at Timmons Arena. With the win, Furman advances to the semifinals for the 10th time in tournament history, where they will face the winner of the Chattanooga-Wofford game, slated for later this afternoon.

Furman scored the first two points of the game on a field goal by Kim Lawrence and never trailed, though the Catamounts tied the score once and were behind by only eight points, 24-16, with 3:07 left in the first half. Furman held WCU to a field goal and single free throw in the final three minutes while scoring eight to take a 32-19 lead into halftime.

The Lady Paladins shot 43.8% from the field in the first period while holding Western to just six field goals. In addition, Furman outrebounded the Catamounts 21-17 in the first half and 45-27 for the game, while upping their second half shooting percentage to .567. Both teams were plagued by turnovers: Western Carolina had 24, while Furman totaled 23.

Senior center Laura Echols topped Western Carolina's offensive effort with 21 points, while April Fleck added 15 and claimed a team-high five rebounds. Furman senior Torrie Scott led Furman scoring with 18, while Kim Lawrence tallied 14 and Kena Hodges recorded her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

With the win, Furman improves to 19-9 on the year, while Western Carolina ends its season with a 13-15 mark.