RADFORD, Va. ? Despite a 10-point scoring run late in the second half, Presbyterian College women's basketball fell to Radford 57-35 at the Dedmon Center on Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore forward Chelsea Wright (Atlanta, Ga./Whitefield Academy) registered her third straight performance of 10-or-more rebounds as she pulled down 10 boards against Radford. Point guard Katlin Moore (Fort Mill, S.C./Charlotte Catholic (N.C.)) led the Blue Hose in scoring with 14 points.
PC started off on the right foot when junior forward Lea Smith (Marion, N.C./McDowell) rebounded her own missed shot and drained a jumper to take a 2-0 lead in the first minute of competition. Radford's Taleia Moton reciprocated with a basket of her own to tie the game with 18:07 left to play in the first half. Neither team scored for over two minutes until the Highlanders took the lead 4-2 at 16:16, which they would hold onto for the remainder of the contest.
Wright broke a four-minute scoring drought for the Blue Hose when she went 1-for-2 from the line to bring PC within four (7-3) at 15:31. Moore also added a pair of free throws two minutes later. Sophomore guard Amanda Mills (Oregon City, Ore./San Diego Mesa CC) sank one from outside the arc off a pass from Moore to score the first points for PC from the floor in eight minutes.
Moore followed up Mills' three with a trey of her own at the 8:04 mark to keep PC within seven, 18-11. Radford continued to distance itself from the Blue Hose, knocking down 36.7 percent of its shots in the first half. Kymesha Alston's layup gave the Highlanders a 13-point lead with 3:29 left in the half. The Blue Hose defense held Radford scoreless in the final minutes of the half and Smith slashed to the basket with 1:46 remaining to end the half with the Highlanders up 25-14.
Radford opened the second half with a 9-0 run. Moore ended PC's four-minute scoring drought with a pair of free throws at 15:49. The Blue Hose were held without a field goal until the 11:41 mark when Smith made a layup off a pass by Mills to make it 45-19.
Down 51-22 with five and a half minutes remaining, PC revved up its offense as freshman guard Kristen Stevens (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central) nailed a three-pointer to start a 10-0 run for the Blue Hose over the next two minutes. Stevens scored six points off three baskets during the run, ending with a short-range jumper that reduced Radford's lead to 51-32 with 3:38 on the clock.
Moore's layup counteracted a Radford basket and Stevens hit a free throw to keep PC within 20, 55-35 at 2:25. The Highlanders kept the Blue Hose from scoring in the final minutes of the game, ending with a 57-35 victory.
PC improved its shooting in the second half, jumping from 17.4 percent in the first period to 33.3 percent in the second. Head coach Ronny Fishers' squad hung with Radford on the glass, pulling down 34 rebounds to the Highlanders' 40.
The Blue Hose finish their trip to Virginia with a Monday night game against Liberty at the Vines Center.
