CLINTON, S.C. ? Presbyterian College women's basketball suffered a 47-35 setback to Winthrop in the team's Big South Conference opener on Saturday evening at Templeton Center.
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Sophomore point guard Katlin Moore (Fort Mill, S.C./Charlotte Catholic (N.C.)) led the Blue Hose with a team-high 13 points for her seventh game in double digits. Amanda Mills (Oregon City, Ore./San Diego Mesa CC) added 10 points to PC's offensive effort.
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Winthrop (5-6, 1-0 Big South) held the advantage throughout the game, jumping to a seven-point lead with 9:08 remaining in the first half. Mills sank a shot from three-point land off a pass from freshman Megan Lee (Chilicothe, Ohio/Chilicothe). The Eagles responded with consecutive treys from Tiffany Rodd and Kathi Ryska to establish a 10-point advantage. Mills finished the half with her second three-pointer of the evening with seven seconds left on the clock to narrow Winthrop's advantage, 22-14.
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PC (2-9, 0-1 Big South) went on an 8-1 scoring run in the second half with three-pointers by Moore and Mills and a jumper by freshman forward Brittany Brown (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin), cutting Winthrop's lead to 29-24 with 14:09 remaining in the game. After Eagles' Yvonne van Dalen made two shots from the charity stripe, Moore was fouled while making a layup and sank the extra shot for a three-point play. She followed up her performance with a jumper 50 seconds later to bring the Blue Hose within four (33-29).
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Winthrop turned up the heat, scoring seven points over the next five minutes to stretch the lead back to double digits. The Eagles finished with a 12-point victory and their first Big South win in 2008-09.
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Junior forward Lea Smith (Marion, N.C./McDowell) had a team-high eight rebounds, with six offensive boards. The Blue Hose forced the Eagles to make 22 turnovers.
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PC shot a season-low 37.5 percent from the free throw line (3-of-8) while Winthrop made 52.9 percent from the charity stripe.
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The Blue Hose hit the road for a Monday evening matchup with the Hokies of Virginia Tech. It will be the third and final opponent the team plays from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
