CLINTON, S.C. - Presbyterian
College fell, 64-49 to Charleston Southern on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Hose (2-17, 1-6 BSC) were paced by Mariah
Pietrowski's 16 points and nine rebounds.
The visiting Buccaneers (11-9, 3-4 BSC) thrived on the long ball,
scoring 14 of their 22 field goals from beyond the arc.
The hosts opened up the game by shooting a perfect 3-for-3
in the first five minutes to equalize Charleston Southern's early flurry of perimeter
shots. The Bucs responded by making
back-to-back treys to make the lead 12-6.
Down six points, PC reeled the Bucs back to a one point
advantage after Amanda Mills nailed a three-pointer, followed by a second-chance
deuce from Pietrowski. The layup
gave her six points through 12:25. Coming
out of the second media timeout of the first half, Chelsea Parker drained a
three pointer from the elbow to put the Blue Hose up 15-12. Parker finished the game with eight points.
At the 10:10 mark, down one, Charleston Southern sparked a 14-2
run which included four baskets from downtown and gave the visitors a 26-18
lead at the five minute threshold.
Kristen Stevens ended the run and cut the lead to five with her first
three pointer of the evening.
The basket opened an 8-2 run to close the first half for the
Blue Hose to make the halftime score 28-26 to Charleston Southern. The halftime margin is PC's closest since the
Big South opener against Winthrop on January 2.
CSU's Helen Terry led all scorers with ten points in the first half off
the bench.
Out of the intermission, Charleston Southern grabbed a ten
point lead by 15:23 as three Buccaneer players drained three pointers. The 11-1 run made the score 39-29.
Over the next five minutes, the Bucs tacked on three
additional treys to take the lead out to 17 points as the game entered its
final ten minutes. The lead went to 22
points at 6:40 before the Blue Hose fought back with a 10-0 run to trail by
trail by 12 at 3:21.
The run stalled as both teams went the next two and a half
minutes without a basket. Charleston
Southern outscored PC 4-1 in the final minute to make the final score, 64-49.
Dria David scored nine points to go along with five assists
and seven boards for the Blue Hose. To
go along with Pietrowski's game high scoring output, she also set a new career
high in blocks with two. The total
matches PC's season high in the category.
PC will host Coastal Carolina on Monday evening at the
Templeton Center. The league game will
start at 7 p.m.
