DURHAM, N.C. – The Presbyterian College women's basketball team
ended its opening-season road swing with an 84-45 loss at No. 3 Duke on
Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Hose (1-2) shot 45.7 percent against Duke (1-0),
buoyed by a 55 percent shooting percentage in the second half.
Duke's Haley Peters and Tricia Liston led all scorers with
21 points on the night.
Karlee Taylor (Asheville, N.C.) paced PC with 14 points, with
12 coming from behind the three-point line. The junior's four treys mark the
most in a game for her since January 30 of last season against High Point, a
span of 11 games. Taylor also moved into ninth place in program history with 107 career three-pointers.
Sophomore Noelle Carter (Neptune, N.J.) made her first
career start and led the squad in rebounds (four) for the first time as a Blue
Hose.
PC returns to Clinton to open home action on Monday night
against Southern Wesleyan at 7 p.m. The game kicks off a pair of back-to-back
contests as SC State visits Templeton Center on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Duke came out running, scoring seven quick points before Mariah Pietrowski (Elizabethton, Tenn.) and Taylor helped narrow the margin early. PC battled throughout the
opening half as Taylor paced the squad with six points from behind the arc and
the Blue Hose chipped away on free throws late in the period. The visitors also
forced nine Blue Devil turnovers.
Keyonna Allen (Forest Park, Ga.) came into the half late and
enjoyed a solid outing, converting her first career bucket on two hard-fought points
in the paint and joining Carter with two rebounds at the half.
The Blue Devils began to pull away midway through the period, putting
together an 18-point run en route to a 40-18 halftime advantage. PC held
strong, however, responding to the run by outscoring Duke 11-9 on the way to
the break.
PC increased its production in the second stanza, knocking
down 11 field goals out of 20 as Taylor poured in eight points. The visitors
also outscored the Blue Devils off the bench, 10 to six.
Several Blue Hose achieved career firsts as well. Allen
converted another basket inside for four points on the night while Cassidy
Glenn (Blue Island, Ill.) hit a three for her first career points. Glenn also
hauled in her first-ever rebound, as did Taryn Richard (Palm City, Fla.).
