Lions Fall to Division I Furman

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Mars Hill women's basketball team dropped a road contest to Division I Furman on Saturday, November 26. Seniors Paige Chavis and Sydney Comer led the Lions with 13 and 11 points, respectively, but it was not enough as the Paladins were able to take what was a close game early and turn it into an 81-46 margin of victory.

Aliyah Farmer chipped in seven points and seven boards, while Jenny Edwards added six points. The Lions connected on 25% of their shots (14-57) from the floor, including 5-for-19 from three. Furman used its size to outrebound the Lions by a margin of 48-37.

The game was deadlocked at 8-8 with 6:41 remaining in the opening session, but two points in the next six-plus minutes of play from Mars Hill saw the Lions fall behind 20-13 following one period of play. Furman continued to add on to its lead in the second quarter as it ran off a 21-5 run to blow the game open at 41-18. Mars Hill went on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 41-24 heading into halftime.

Chavis and Comer led the Lions offensively with seven points each in the first half. Furman held a slight 25-19 advantage on the boards, while Mars Hill forced eight Paladin turnovers. Furman claimed 14 points off 12 MHU miscues in the first half.

Furman opened the second half with a massive 20-4 run to extend its to lead 61-28 as the Lions went on another scoring drought of three or more minutes. The Paladins outscored the Lions 23-9 in the third quarter to take a comfortable 64-33 advantage into the fourth.

The deficit proved to be too much as Mars Hill battled in the fourth but came up on the short end of an 81-46 final. Le'Jzae Davidson led all scorers with 21 points, including 6-of-9 from three, and Whitney Bunn pitched in 19 for the Paladins.

Mars Hill will return to the court on Wednesday, November 30 as they play host to Livingstone. That contest is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.