CLINTON, S.C. - The Presbyterian College women's basketball team took a 22-18 lead into halftime in its home opener against Furman on Tuesday night, but the Blue Hose could not withstand a strong second half from the Paladins and fell, 63-47.
PC moves to 0-2 on the year. Furman improves to 1-1.
The Blue Hose return to action on Thursday when PC hosts Allen in the first half of a PC basketball doubleheader. The women's team tips off against the Yellow Jackets at 5:30 p.m. before the men's squad hosts Western Carolina at 7:30 p.m.
Mariah Pietrowski (Elizabethton, Tenn.) led all players with 16 points and seven rebounds. Shonda Burnside (Gray Court, S.C.) and Karlee Taylor (Asheville, N.C.) followed with eight points apiece. Dria David (Lawrenceville, Ga.) also collected five rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks on the night.
Noelle Carter (Neptune, N.J.) scored her first collegiate points in the game, finishing a layup in the second half. The freshman also blocked a shot for another career first.
Kaitlin Murphy led Furman with 15 points and six rebounds.
A solid defensive effort and evenly-distributed scoring from its starters helped PC to a first half lead, but a 56.3 percent shooting performance in the second half from Furman helped the Paladins take and build on a lead soon after the halftime break.
The two sides swapped baskets to open the game as the teams battled for a lead. Furman took a four-point advantage midway through the stanza, but Burnside helped PC erase the deficit with a putback from a David miss to tie the game at 13-13.
Pietrowski led the Blue Hose in first-half scoring, with six points, and contributed a key bucket as the junior converted a clever feed inside from David to give PC a 20-18 lead late in the half. David then took matters into her own hands as the final seconds ticked down, finding an open lane and driving for two points to put PC ahead at halftime, 22-18.
The Blue Hose took advantage of 11 points off of turnovers to Furman's two in the first half, more than half of its total through the first 20 minutes that saw 10 lead changes.
Furman used 18 field goals in the second half to hold off the Blue Hose, despite 10 second half points from Pietrowski. Devin Fothergill (Somerset, Ky.) tallied two steals in the final stanza and hit a three-pointer late to try and narrow the gap.
The Paladins took the lead in the first minute after halftime and never trailed en route to the win.
