BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.
- The Blue Hose looked like a different team from the side that dropped a
40-point loss to Gardner-Webb 26 days earlier, but the change in play wasn't
enough as Gardner-Webb downed PC, 53-50 in overtime. Ronny Fisher's team led for large portions of
the game and took the Big South frontrunner to the brink on Saturday afternoon
in Boiling Springs.
"I was really proud of our defensive effort tonight," said
Fisher. "To hold a team that's ranked 23rd
in some polls to just 53 points is a great job by our team."
After the Bulldogs (22-3, 11-1 BSC) went out to a 5-1 lead
early, the Blue Hose (5-20, 3-8 BSC) answered by erasing the advantage and
taking their first lead of the game at the 9:24 mark. The breakthrough came on a long-distance
short from Kristen Stevens. The sophomore
made two treys in the first half and totaled 10 points in the game.
PC eventually took a 23-14 lead in the first half and shot
over 50 percent from the field until late in the period. At halftime, PC led the Bulldogs by a 23-20
margin.
In the second half, PC withstood a Gardner-Webb run and
eventually took the lead back to nine points.
Gardner-Webb re-took the lead at 8:50, going up 36-34. The Blue Hose stayed close, never trailing
more than three points despite the best efforts of the Bulldogs to put the game
away.
Amanda Mills drained a clutch three-pointer at the 4:02 mark
to put the Blue Hose back in front, X-X.
PC would not relinquish the lead until the waning seconds when Courtney
Epps converted on a pair of free throws to even the scores at 43-43. Mills closed the game with 13 points to lead
the Blue Hose in scoring.
The Blue Hose got the ball back for a quick 11-second possession
in which Stevens sprinted the ball down the floor and missed a layup with just
a second left. Shonda Burnside was there
for an attempted buzzer beating tip-in, but the ball bounced three times on the
rim and fell wide to force the game into overtime.
Gardner-Webb led by as many five in the extra stanza before
the Blue Hose started chipping away at the advantage with baskets at 34 and 13
seconds left to cut the lead to one point.
The Blue Hose couldn't foul the Bulldogs and Meranda Burnett streaked
down the court for an easy layup to put the game on ice.
Burnside posted a double-double in her first career start
with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The loss extends PC's streak of consecutive road losses to
40-straight games. The Blue Hose will
look to snap that streak on Monday night as PC travels to High Point. The game starts at 7 p.m.
