CLINTON, S.C. – Mariah Pietrowski (Elizabethton, Tenn.)
scored her 1,000th career point and Dria David (Lawrenceville, Ga.)
poured in 17 to lead the Presbyterian College women's basketball team past NC
Central in a non-conference road win on Saturday afternoon, 49-37.
PC (3-3) shot a season-high 52.4 percent from the floor,
converting 22 of 42 field goal attempts to hold off NC Central (0-5) in the program's 900th game. The Blue
Hose return home to open Big South Conference play on Wednesday night against
Charleston Southern at 7 p.m.
Pietrowski cashed in on a layup early in the second half to
give the senior center her 1,000th career point. Pietrowski becomes
the first women's basketball Blue Hose in the Division I era to hit the millennium
mark and the first since Rebecca Wessinger last accomplished the feat on November
23, 2005. She finished with six on the night.
Up 23-20 at the break, PC outscored the Eagles 26-17 and held
the home side to 16 percent shooting from the floor in the second half.
David's game-high 17 points fall two shy of her career high
as the senior enjoyed a 7-for-10 shooting performance with four assists. Karlee
Taylor (Asheville, N.C.) dished out a game-high five assists while Devin
Fothergill (Somerset, Ky.) made her first start of the season and paced PC on
the boards with five rebounds.
PC raced out of the gate following halftime, scoring 10 unanswered
points to start the period as part of a larger 24-7 run. The Eagles went
without a point for the first 5:19 as the Blue Hose forced five turnovers.
The Blue Hose built
their lead to 20 points with 5:47 remaining thanks to eight second half points
from David and six each from Shonda Burnside (Gray Court, S.C.) and Taylor.
PC took a 23-20 lead into halftime thanks to
shooting a blistering 58.8 percent (10-for-17) from the floor. The visitors also
assembled a 9-0 run that spanned nine minutes of play. David scored five
straight—part of her nine first half points—during the streak with help from
Noelle Carter (Neptune, N.J.) and Burnside
The Eagles closed down the stretch, however, as Chasidy Williams and Tisha Dixon combined for nine points in the final six minutes to give PC only three
points of breathing room at the break. Amber Neely led NC Central with 10 points and seven rebounds on the afternoon.
The win marks the program's first-ever at NC Central's
McDougald–McLendon Gymnasium, avenging a 43-38 loss in 2010.
