GREENVILLE, S.C. – After a back-and-forth contest for much of the first three quarters, the Furman Paladins pulled away late in the third to hand Gardner-Webb its fourth loss of the season, 70-57.

Gardner-Webb (4-4) led on four occasions in the first quarter and tied the contest at 14 when Savannah Plentovich hit a three with time winding down. The story was much of the same in the second period, as Furman took a five-point lead, but the Runnin' Bulldogs battled back.

With the Paladins (5-4), leading 21-16, Gardner-Webb went on an 8-2 run to take a 24-23 lead with 1:27 remaining until the intermission.  The Runnin' Bulldogs run lasted just over two minutes with Ky'Asia Stanford, Carley Plentovich and Morgan Pointer all contributing. Pointer's three capped off the run and put the 'Dogs in front.

To end the second quarter, the lead changed teams three times in less than 90 seconds with the Paladins' Kaitlyn Duncan putting the home team up by a point, 27-26, with 36 seconds left. For GWU, Jhessyka Williams was unable to connect on layup, and the 'Dogs went to the locker room down a point.

The Runnin' Bulldogs never trailed by more than five in the early parts of the third quarter and got within a single point three times before Williams' free throw with 3:25 to go tied things at 36 all.

It would be the closest Gardner-Webb would get as Furman used a 7-0 run to rebuild its lead before S. Plentovich knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the lead to five. Over the final 1:40 of the third quarter, the Paladins extended their lead to nine, 50-41.

Although Gardner-Webb would make it a two possession game thanks to S. Plentovich's layup with 7:38 remaining, Furman doubled its lead less than three minutes later.

The 'Dogs battled to get within seven, 58-51, when Alexis Hueston hit her first shot of the game with under four minutes to go, but Furman quickly retook a double-digit lead. The Paladins led by as many as 17 points with 1:17 left and would go on to win, 70-57.

The loss is Gardner-Webb's third straight, while the Paladins return to the win column after a mid-week loss at Georgia.

S. Plentovich led Gardner-Webb with 16 points (5 of-14 shooting), while twin sister Carley scored 14 and netted her 500^th career point in the defeat. Ky'Asia Stanford (11 points) was the third Runnin' Bulldog in double figures.
Furman's Le'Jzae Davidson scored a game-high 23 points, while Duncan was the only player to record a double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.

Gardner-Webb shot 21-of-68 (30. 9 percent). The Paladins also made 21 shots but needed just 42 attempts to equal the Runnin' Bulldogs. Furman won the rebounding battle (42-30) and went to the line 28 times. The Runnin' Bulldogs attempted just 15 free throws.

Gardner-Webb will finish off its three-game road trip with contests at Drexel (Sunday, Dec. 15 @ 2 p.m.) and Delaware (Tuesday, Dec. 17 @ 7 p.m.).