CLINTON, S.C.
- Presbyterian College women's basketball broke into the win column with
an impressive 70-42 win over long-time local rival Erskine on Tuesday afternoon
at the Templeton Center. The victory was
head coach Ronny Fisher's 10th career victory as the Blue Hose broke
the 70-point barrier for the first time since February 14, 2007.
"We had a great effort today with all 14 of our players contributing,"
said Fisher. "On the defensive side of
the ball we kept the intensity up all game.
It was great to get our first win of the season at home but our sights
are on game Saturday night with North Carolina Central."
The Blue Hose improve to 1-1 on the year while Erskine falls to 0-2 on
the year with two losses to Big South opponents. PC also set a Division I school record for
attendance as 1,152 fans saw the Blue Hose victory. The win gives the Blue Hose a 24-14 lead in
the all-time series against the Flying Fleet.
PC raced out to a 6-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game as
Mariah Pietrowski (Elizabethton, Tenn.) scored six of her 14 first half points. The defending Big South Freshman of the year
would go on to score 19 on the afternoon.
She was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field and 2-of-2 at the charity
stripe in the first half. The sophomore
would also go on to share the team lead in rebounds with seven.
The Blue Hose led by as many as 24 in the first period as Kristen Stevens
(Pickerington, Ohio) scored six of her 14 points off a pair of baskets from
beyond the arc in the first period.
Erskine went on a 12-2 run in the final six minutes of the first half to
cut the halftime score to 33-19.
PC shot .583 in the first half from the field with a 14-for-24
showing. Erskine was 8-for-28 in the first
half (.286) from the field and 0-for-12 from downtown.
The second half was much of the same for the Blue Hose who took the lead
out to 15-poins at the 15:48 mark as Stevens drained a pair of free
throws. Shonda Burnside (Gray Court,
S.C.) had a strong second period to post 10 points and share the team rebounding
lead with seven.
The Fleet were led in scoring by Neci Allen who scored 10 points followed
by Porsha Morgan with nine points.
Taylar Stewart led Erskine in rebounding with nine boards.
The high-water mark for PC came at the 4:16 point when the Blue Hose went
ahead by 31-points as Sherece Smith (Clemson, S.C.) scored a free throw to give
the hosts a 66-35 lead. The freshman
scored five points in her home debut.
Senior Amanda Mills (Oregon City, Ore.) scored six points with a pair of
treys. Fellow senior Chelsea Wright
(Atlanta, Ga.) joined the lucky-sevens rebound club as she also shared in the
team rebounding lead. Karlee Taylor
(Asheville, N.C.) led the Blue Hose in assists with four to go along with four
points and three rebounds.
The Blue Hose out-rebounded their opponent for the second consecutive
game (47-to-33) and also finished with more turnovers than their opponent for
the second consecutive game (20-to-17)
PC shot 27-of-55 (.491) for the game and 6-of-18 (.333) from beyond the
arc. The Blue Hose also doubled its
free-throw percentage from .333 (2-of-6) against Virginia Tech to .667 (10-of-15)
against the Flying Fleet. Erskine on the
other hand, shot just .250 (15-for-60) and was blanked (0-of-19) from beyond
the perimeter. At the line, Erskine was
12-of-18 (.667).
The Blue Hose take back to the road on Saturday night for a tilt against
North Carolina Central. Last season, PC
lost 57-56 to the Eagles in Clinton and will look to avenge the defeat starting
at 6 p.m.
Local fans that missed Tuesday's game can catch the replay on Wednesday
night on Laurens County Access 15 starting at 7 p.m. This season, all home PC basketball games
will be aired on Channel 15 the following evening at 7 p.m.
Fans can keep
up with Blue Hose women's basketball and the rest of PC's 16 intercollegiate
sports teams at www.Twitter.com/BlueHoseSports. There, fans will find exclusive updates you
can't find anywhere else. If video is
your quest, check out the BlueTube on www.GoBlueHose.com or www.youtube.com/BlueHoseAthletics.
