Defense powers Furman women past ETSU

Jada Session had 13 points and 11 rebounds in Furman's 64-58 win
over ETSU Thursday. Photo courtesy of SoCon/Jeremy Fleming

Sixth-seeded Furman used a tremendous defensive effort to knock off third-seeded East Tennessee State, 64-58, Thursday in the opening round of the Southern Conference Women's Basketball Tournament at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville. The Paladins limited the Bucs to 36.7 percent shooting to advance to Friday's second round. Furman (16-15) will take on No. 2-seed Chattanooga at approximately 1:15 p.m. with the trip to Sunday's championship on the line.

The Paladins' defensive effort was especially dominant in crunch time. ETSU made just 3-of-16 field goals (18.3 percent) in the fourth quarter. Furman, which avenged a sweep by the Bucs (17-13) in the regular season, was the lone lower seed to win in Thursday's opening round. The Paladins improved to 9-1 against ETSU in SoCon Tournament history.

"It was obviously a tough game, and we thought it would be. We just played them (last Saturday), and we thought for about 33 minutes of that game, we were right there," Furman coach Pierre Curtis said. "We were really confident coming into this game that if we made a couple of tweaks we could come out victorious. We had contributions from everybody on the team. We had 21 points from the bench in the first half, which was great.

"I have nothing but respect for (ETSU) Coach (Brenda) Mock (Brown) and her program, but I didn't think of us winning as an upset. We didn't come into this game like underdogs. We came in very confident. I have a bunch of seniors that don't want to stop playing basketball right now."

Two of those seniors that helped lead the way Thursday were Jada Session and Tate Walters. Session had 13 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, while Walters navigated through foul trouble to finish with 10 points and four steals without fouling out.

It was the fifth double-double this season for Session, who was sidelined the first 10 games this season.

"It was upsetting at first, but I've just tried to make an impact since I've been back," Session said. "That was my goal for my senior year and it's been great."

Furman trailed 8-2 three-and-a-half minutes into Thursday's contest, but it held ETSU to just 1-for-8 shooting - sandwiched around four consecutive turnovers by the Bucs - the rest of the first quarter. That allowed the Paladins to take a 12-10 lead going into the second quarter.

Both teams' offenses got going in the second quarter as the game was tied 30-30 at halftime. Of those 21 points by Furman's bench in the first half, Jaelyn Acker accounted for nine of those all in the second. After making a total of three three-pointers over her previous eight games combined, Acker made 3-of-4 in the quarter.

The Paladins were able to take command of the game in a wild third quarter. ETSU had a stretch of seven consecutive missed shots before making six in a row. Meanwhile, Furman missed its first shot of the second half before making 11 of its next 13 to take a 55-48 lead to the final quarter.

Session and Walters helped seal the win as they combined for eight of the Paladins' nine points in the fourth quarter. Walters had a couple of huge defensive plays that helped secure the win. With 4:20 left, Walters made a steal and turned it into a fastbreak layup to give Furman its biggest lead at 61-52. ETSU didn't fold though. With less than a minute to play, the Bucs had the ball trailing 61-58 when Walters blocked a layup attempt by the Kendall Folley.

"It's been quite the journey, but I wouldn't have had it any other way," said Walters, who won her first SoCon Tournament game since leading the Paladins to the 2022 championship game. "I'm very proud of our team and the effort that we put forth today."

While ETSU made just 3-of-16 shots in the fourth, Furman was just 2-of-7 but it made 5-of-8 free throws. With 11 seconds left, freshman Raina McGowens hit 1-of-2 from the foul line to push the lead to four. Session made a pair of free throws with three seconds left to wrap up the victory.

In addition to Session's 13 points and Walters' 10, Acker finished with nine and Sydney Ryan scored eight. Chantelle Stuart also had seven points, a team-high four assists and two steals. The Paladins finished with a 27-9 advantage in bench points.

Meghan Downing led ETSU with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots. Folley finished with 15 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Despite the relatively quiet fourth quarter, Furman shot 50 percent (24-of-48) for the game. The Paladins improved to 10-1 in games in which they've shot at least 45 percent from the floor. That includes a 74-70 overtime win at their next opponent, Chattanooga, last Thursday. Furman made 28-of-56 field goal that day.

"We have a motto right now: All we can ask for is an opportunity to have an opportunity to have another opportunity," Curtis said. "We had an opportunity to win today to get to another opportunity tomorrow."