GREENVILLE, S.C. (March 2, 2024) – A strong fourth quarter lifted Furman past the ETSU women's basketball team on Saturday night in the regular season finale, 67-59. With Saturday's loss, the Bucs conclude the regular season with an overall record of 18-11 and 7-7 in SoCon play, while Furman improves to 15-15 overall and 5-9 in league play.
 
Nevaeh Brown led the scoring charge for ETSU on Saturday with 13 points. Courtney Moore added 12 points as the other Buc in double figures. Meghan Downing added eight points of her own to go with a team-high 10 rebounds, four blocks and three steals.
 
Nearly all ETSU's offense in the opening quarter came from 3-point range. The Bucs knocked down four triples in the opening 10 minutes. Couple those four threes and two made free throws from Samiah Puckett accounted for ETSU's 14 first quarter points. Furman, meanwhile, went 6-for-6 from the free throw line and hit on its lone made three of the frame to close out the first and pull in front of the Bucs, 17-14.
 
The long-distance shooting continued for the Bucs in the second. Four more makes from beyond the arc gave ETSU eight made threes in the first 20 minutes. An 8-0 run capped by a 3-pointer from Brown gave ETSU its biggest lead of the night to that point, 37-28, with 2:03 to go before halftime. However, Furman got the Buccaneer lead down to seven, 37-30, heading into the break.
 
Coming out for the third quarter, neither team had much luck offensively in the third. The two teams combined to shoot 28 percent from the field and commit eight turnovers in the third. Even with the struggles scoring, ETSU's lead grew to eight, 46-38, heading to the final quarter.
 
The fourth quarter proved to be the difference on Saturday. After ETSU briefly pushed its lead back to 10 points, 50-40, with 8:39 to go, Furman's offense caught a spark. The Paladins scored a game-high 29 points in the final 10 minutes, shot 9-for-15 from the field, 5-for-7 from 3-point range, and 6-for-7 from the free throw line. After Furman tied the score at 51-51 with 5:22 remaining, the Bucs scored the next four points to make it 55-51 with 3:25 to go in regulation. However, the Paladins finished the game on a 16-4 run to not only erase the Buccaneer lead but also finish off the 67-59 win.
 
The Buccaneers will now turn their attention to the 2024 SoCon Women's Basketball Tournament at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C. ETSU, which has earned the No. 5 seed for the tournament, will face No. 4 seed Mercer on Thursday. The Bucs and Bears split the two matchups this season with each team winning on their respective home floor. Tentative tip-off time between ETSU and Mercer is set for 5:45 p.m. on Thursday from Asheville.
 
For more information on Buccaneer women's basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women's basketball tab.