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CLINTON, S.C. - Dequesha McClanahan scored 32 points, including five in the final 1:10 to hold off a furious Blue Hose rally and lead the Winthrop Eagles to the 70-62 win over the Presbyterian College women's basketball team in action this afternoon at the Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C.
PC drops its fourth straight to go to 6-8 overall and 0-3 in the Big South Conference. Winthrop improves to 7-8, 1-2.
Winthrop opened with a 12-3 run in the first four minutes as the Eagles were five-for-five from the field, their first miss coming at the 15:48 mark, which led to a PC basket to make the score 12-5 with 15:47 to go in the first half.
After trailing by 10, 15-5, a three-pointer by Karlee Taylor at 14:58, one of her career-high six on the afternoon, cut the deficit to seven. PC chopped into the Winthrop lead with a Dria David jumper at 11:32 before the Eagles responded with a basket by Samiya Wright to make it a seven-point game again, 19-12, with 11:32 before intermission.
The Eagles took their largest lead of the half up to that point with a three-pointer by McClanahan, who had 16 points in the first half, at 8:48 to give Winthrop the 25-14 lead. Winthrop extended the margin to 13, 27-14, off a jumper at 8:07.
Winthrop offense fired on all cylinders and led by as much has 18 in the first half, 40-22 at the 2:07 mark. It capped a 23-8 run that started at the 11:32 mark off the Wright jumper. The Eagles headed to the locker room leading 42-25, after connecting on 17-of-31 shots from the field, compared to just 10-of-26 from PC.
The Blue Hose offense picked up in the second half, as PC outscored the Eagles 12-6 to cut the deficit to 11, 35-48 with 16:06 left.
PC cut the margin to 11 on several more occasions in the second half, including off the three-pointer by Taylor at 10:39 to make the score 53-42.
The Blue Hose continued to cut into the Winthrop lead and trailing 39-53, went on an 8-0 run to cut the margin to six, 47-53 with 9:20 remaining. Two Eagle free throws by McClanahan at the 8:54 mark ended the Eagle drought, and a lay-yup by Kaitlyn Rubino gave Winthrop the double-digit lead again, 57-47 at 8:11.
Both teams traded baskets the next several minutes and after two free throws by David at 4:58, PC trailed by 10 again, 49-59. Winthrop scored the next four of five points to go up 63-50 before a three-pointer by Taylor at 1:11 cut the margin to 10.
After Winthrop went up 65-53, Taylor hit her fifth three-pointer of the game to make it a nine-point game, 65-56, with 1:02 left. PC tried to make a game of it with a Chelsea Parker three with 54 seconds to go to cut the deficit to eight with 45 seconds left.
Kristin Stevens cut the margin to seven with her own three-pointer but Winthrop connected on seven-of-eight free throws to keep the Blue Hose from staging the comeback and take the 70-62 win.
PC shot 42.3 percent from the field for the game and was led by Taylor with her 18 points, followed by David and her 14. Mariah Pietrowski has 12 on the afternoon. Pietrowski, Sherece Smith, and Devin Fothergill each had five rebounds to lead the team. The Blue Hose connected on nine-of-22 three-pointers and were nine-of-13 from the free throw line.
Winthrop was led by McClanahan with her 32 points and was followed by Rubino with 14 and Taylor Calvert with 10. Diana Coibekova paced the squad with six rebounds. The Eagles were 46.4 percent from the field after shooting just 36.0 percent in the second half. Winthrop was 14-of-18 from the charity stripe and held the 33-27 advantage in rebounds. The Eagles also posted five less turnovers, 12-15.
PC is next in action Saturday, Jan. 14 at 3 p.m., as the Blue Hose host Gardner Webb at the Templeton Center. Fans can watch on-line at www.BigSouthSports.com for a nominal fee.
