Photo by Dillard Stephens
CLINTON, S.C. – Karlee Taylor (Asheville, S.C.) scored 16
points for the Presbyterian College women's basketball team on Thursday but the
visiting Winthrop Eagles took home the win at Templeton Center, 77-42.
PC moves to 12-9 overall and 7-3 in the Big South Conference
while Winthrop improves to 14-8 and 8-2 in league play. The Blue Hose host UNC
Asheville on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. and the Eagles travel to Charleston
Southern for a 2 p.m. tilt on Saturday as well.
Diana Choibekova and Dequesha McClanahan led Winthrop with
17 points each. Both also grabbed seven rebounds apiece while McClanahan
tallied six assists and five steals.
Taylor's 16 came on four shots from behind the three-point
line, one short of a season-high. The junior scored 11 points in the second half and also played a team-high 26
minutes. Her four treys moved her into fourth place all-time at PC, passing Billie Haskins (2001-04) with 151 career three-pointers.
Keyonna Allen (Forest Park, Ga.) set new career bests in
rebounds, with a team-high seven boards, and blocks, with three.
Winthrop outscored the Blue Hose 36-15 in the first half and
41-27 in the second. PC shot 40.9 percent (9-for-22) in the second but could
not keep up with the Eagles' shooting pace.
The first half belonged to the Eagles, opening the game on a
32-5 run before the Blue Hose closed the frame on a 10-4 run of their own.
Winthrop found the net early and often to start the contest before the PC
defense found a groove and held the visitors to six points in the final 7:12 of
the period.
PC came out of the break shooting well, knocking down five
of its first seven attempts to open the second half. A Taylor trey cut Winthrop's
lead to 18 four minutes into the stanza before the Eagles pulled away.
Megan Schaaf (Ellicott City, Md.) entered the game midway through the second and
converted a slick layup while Taryn Richard (Palm City, Fla.) grabbed a
career-high three rebounds. Richard also converted her first career assist.
