Greenville, S.C. - Junior center Daphnee Frieson (Mobile, Ala.) scored 13 points and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds in her first career double-double, but the strong effort wasn't quite enough to bring the Stetson women's basketball team (0-7) a victory in a 76-60 loss at Furman (3-8) Sunday afternoon. Senior forward Ashli Jackson (Opelika, Ala.) scored 13 points as well for the Hatters.
An early 9-0 run allowed Stetson to lead for most of the first half and take a 19-11 advantage on a Jackson three-pointer with 10:42 to go before halftime, but Furman would slowly but surely erode that advantage. Lakyn Ledford put the Paladins ahead for good with 2:05 left in the first half; Stetson did not score for the final five minutes of the first period and went to the locker room trailing 31-25.
Furman continued to pull away in the second half, due in no small part to a tremendous free throw advantage; the Paladins went to the line 40 times in the contest while Stetson attempted just eight free throws. Furman shot 29-40 (.725) from the stripe while the Hatters were six for eight (.750). The Hatters could not come closer than five points at any point in the second half.
Nine of Frieson's 13 rebounds came on the offensive glass; she also blocked a shot for the seventh consecutive game. Junior guard Tierra Brown (Orlando, Fla.) scored a season-high nine points while also dishing out six assists and grabbing four steals. Sophomore guard Kerri Simpson (Charleston, Tenn.) contributed five points, seven rebounds and two steals of her own.
Five Paladins scored in double figures with Kaitlin Murphy and Raegan Thompson scoring 15 points each. Ledford tallied 13 points and eight rebounds while Kali Holtfreter (12 points) and Kendra Berry (11 points) reached double digits as well. Murphy and Lee Stephens ripped off five steals each with Stephens also recording five assists.
Stetson returns home to host A-Sun rival USC Upstate at 7 p.m. Thursday, December 17. Bill Topping and Dee Romine call the action on Hatter Vision with Live Stats also available at www.GoHatters.com, the official online home of Stetson Athletics. Thursday's game will mark the debut of 6'3" junior center Natasha Graboski (Upper Sandusky, Ohio), whose NCAA-mandated year in residence period after transferring from the University of Cincinnati has now ended.
