CLINTON, S.C. - The Presbyterian College women's
basketball team was unable to send senior Lea Smith out on a positive note
Monday evening as the Blue Hose fell to Liberty 55-40 in the season's home
finale.
Leading the way for the Blue Hose (5-23, 3-11) was Amanda Mills, who tallied
eight points. Shonda Burnside came off the bench to tally seven markers and
four boards. Mariah Pietrowski also notched seven points in the contest. Dria
David paced the defense with a team-high three steals.
Devon Brown guided the Flames with 15 points. Liberty's (22-5, 12-2) squad was
also paced by Avery Warley's 13 points and 11 rebounds.
In the first half, the Flames jumped out to a quick 5-0 advantage before PC was
able to get a shot off. The Blue Hose fought back, pulling within one on Devin
Fothergill's jumper off the glass, making it 5-4 in favor of the visitors.
After Liberty extended the lead to five at 9-4, Dria David drained a deep three-point
shot with 16:07 remaining in the half. With the game close, the Flames pushed
the tempo of the game with their press, which sparked a 16-2 run for a 25-9
advantage with 9:03 to play.
The Blue Hose would not quit, but every basket they made was matched by Liberty
virtually the entire rest of the half. Down 31-12, Smith hit a jumper with 4:01
to play. The stingy PC defense allowed just two more points the rest of the
half. Pietrowski's two charity tosses put the intermission score at 33-16.
At the break, PC's field goal percentage was higher than the visitors 37.5
percent to 37.0 percent. The Blue Hose had also thwarted three shot attempts by
the Flames as Smith, David and Shonda Burnside all had a stuff in the half.
In the final stanza, PC outscored its counterparts 24-22 thanks in part to
stellar defense and knocking down its open looks. The Blue Hose also attacked
the basket more, getting 10 foul shots in the final half, knocking down seven
of the attempts.
PC's defense forced 14 second-half turnovers, resulting in 12 points. Overall
the Blue Hose caused 21 miscues, accounting for 19 points. The squad's bench
also played well, outscoring Liberty's 19-17, including 17 in the second
period.
Although PC could not get closer than 14 in the early going of the second half,
the squad continued to battle until the final horn. Trailing 52-31 with just
2:59 to go, PC embarked on a 9-3 run to end the game. David stole the ball and
converted the ensuing lay-up. After a bucket by Liberty, Mills hit a three-point
shot to cut it to 18.
Mills then followed a Liberty free throw with two charity tosses of her own
prior to Burnside draining a baseline jumper to complete the scoring.
For the game, PC connected on 14-33 shots (42.4 percent) compared to 16-42 attempts
for Liberty (38.1 percent).
The Blue Hose return to action Friday evening at Charleston Southern. Tip-off
is slated for 7 p.m.? The Flames will
return home to face Radford on Friday night in Lynchburg at 7 p.m.