Furman’s women’s basketball team is set to travel for two Southern Conference games after recent home losses. The Paladins will face Western Carolina on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. in the Ramsey Center and UNC Greensboro on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in Bodford Arena. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+, with streaming and live stats available through the FurmanPaladins.com schedule page.
Currently, Furman holds a 14-10 overall record and a 6-3 mark in conference play, which ties them with Wofford and Mercer for second place, two games behind Chattanooga. The team’s 14 wins equal last season’s total, while their six conference victories surpass last year’s five.
Head coach Pierre Curtis is in his third year leading a roster that features no seniors and starts one junior alongside four sophomores. Before the season began, league coaches picked Furman to finish fifth in the conference.
The Paladins are aiming to complete regular-season sweeps of both Western Carolina and UNC Greensboro, having previously beaten Western Carolina 69-38 and UNCG 69-56 at home in January. In both games, Furman overcame halftime deficits to secure wins. Against Western Carolina, they limited their opponent to just 12 points after halftime and had five players score in double figures; Alyssa Ervin led with 17 points. This win extended Furman’s home winning streak against Western Carolina to 14 games and improved their record against the Catamounts to 16 wins in their last 17 meetings.
The earlier victory over UNCG ended the Spartans’ run of 16 consecutive league wins dating back a year. Chantelle Stuart scored a career-high 26 points during that game, followed by Ervin’s own career-best of 24 points.
Much of Furman’s progress this season has been attributed to sophomore center Care Coyle, who leads the team with an average of 14.5 points per game (third best in SoCon), as well as leading the conference in rebounds (9.2 per game), field goal percentage (.531), steals (52), and double-doubles (9).
Injuries have affected Furman’s front court depth recently with sophomores Kyraha Parnell and Channing Warren sidelined, forcing the team into smaller lineups that have increased quickness—a factor reflected by their Southern Conference-leading average of 12.2 steals per game.
Sophomore guard Alyssa Ervin transferred from Elon this season and has added scoring ability (13.4 ppg) along with three-point shooting (.319). She has made notable contributions including game-winning shots against East Tennessee State and Wofford but was limited by illness during the recent loss to ETSU.
Junior guard Lauren Bailey joined from Gardner-Webb and has become Furman’s top perimeter shooter (.370), making over half her three-point attempts across the past four games.
Additional key contributors include sophomores Raina McGowens (8.9 ppg, 5 rpg) and Chantelle Stuart (7.6 ppg, team-high assists).
