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| Clare Coyle dives for a loose ball in Furman's 76-65 loss to Chattanooga at the Southern Conference Tournament Friday. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Fleming/SoCon |
The Furman women's basketball team bucked one trend to advance to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville, but could not buck another. After posting their first tournament win over Mercer in five tries Thursday, the fourth-seeded Paladins still couldn't solve the riddle of Chattanooga this season Friday.
The top-seeded Mocs remained the only league foe that Furman didn't beat this season with a 76-65 win at Harrah's Cherokee Center. The Paladins simply had no answer for Chattanooga's Gianna Corbitt and Caia Elisaldez, who combined for 57 points.
Furman's season ends with a record of 18-13, while the Mocs advance to Sunday's championship game against sixth-seeded Samford at noon. Chattanooga (20-9) will try to avenge last season's overtime defeat in the championship, which is its only loss in 21 trips to the tournament final.
"Congrats to Chattanooga. They played a really good game. They took a lot of our punches, and they punched right back. I think Corbitt has played out of this world, out of her mind," Furman coach Pierre Curtis said. "There were some bombs they hit on us late in the shot clock that kind of just every time we felt like we were getting close they hit one of those."
The Paladins trailed 16-9 early in the second quarter before Thursday's hero for Furman, Alyssa Ervin, hit a three-pointer. That was followed by layups from Clare Coyle and Kyraha Parnell to tie the game at 16. A critical sequence came about over the final portion of the half. With 4:46 left, Coyle left the game and went to the locker room with a leg injury.
After the Paladins' Raina McGowens hit a three to cut the Mocs' lead to 21-19, UTC's dynamic duo provided a major response. The Mocs went on a 12-2 run in which Corbitt had eight points and an assist, while Elisaldez had four points, an assist and a steal. With a couple of minutes remaining, Coyle emerged from the locker room and tried to check in but there was never a stoppage. That was bad news for Furman as it appeared the Paladins, who had the 11 a.m. tip off Friday after playing the last game Thursday, were completely exhausted in those final minutes.
Furman's Tyriana Berry got a layup before the final horn expired to cut the lead to 33-23 at the half. That did nothing to slow UTC's momentum though. The Mocs' lead grew to as much as 18 in the third quarter as Corbitt and Elisaldez combined for UTC's first 19 points of the second half.
A layup by Elisaldez pushed the lead to 73-53 with 7:28 remaining in the game and UTC began milking clock, but the Paladins didn't quit. Furman went on a 12-0 run to cut the lead to 73-65 with 4:07 left, but had no points, three missed shots and three turnovers the rest of the way.
"Our bodies are really tired from last night. We gave it all we had last night, but I thought we fought. We fought all we could today," Ervin said. "I thought this year was great for us."
Corbitt finished with game-highs in points (29), rebounds (13) and steals (four) to lead Chattanooga. Elisaldez had 28 points, four assists and two steals.
Coyle led Furman with 17 points and three assists. Ervin hit 5-of-7 threes and finished with 15 points. McGowens was the lone other Paladin in double figures with 12 points. Chantelle Stuart added nine points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals off the bench for Furman, while Sophia Pearl scored eight points.
"I'm so proud of my group," Curtis said. "As a whole, I thought we gave everything we had. As a coach, you can live with that."
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