CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College women's basketball team dropped its 2013-14 home opener on Thursday night, falling to the visiting North Carolina Central Eagles by a 55-44 margin.

PC moves to 0-2 and will hit the road to take on NC State on Saturday at noon. NC Central opens its season at 1-0.

Noelle Carter (Neptune, N.J.) and Keyonna Allen (Forest Park, Ga.) led the Blue Hose with 10 points each, a new career high for Carter. Freshman Aianna Kelly (Newport News, Va.) paced the Blue Hose on the boards with a career-high seven while Carter and Rebecca Walker (Snellville, Ga.) added six. Walker also blocked a career-best four shots, PC's second-most ever in a Division I game.

NC Central never trailed, scoring the game's first points and leading by as many as 14 with 12 minutes left in the game. The first half saw the visiting Eagles take the lead and not look back to a 26-16 lead at halftime.

The Eagles jumped out to an 8-3 advantage, a stretch that began after a Kasey Hobbie (Spring Lake, N.J.) broke up a 5-0 Eagles run. A quick 7-0 run that spanned 1:16 at the midway point helped the Eagles build a double-digit advantage thanks in part to Raquel Davis's six points and six boards in the opening half.

NC Central shot 42.3 percent in the second half (11-for-26) but the Blue Hose were outscored by only a point. PC forced nine turnovers and committed seven of their own and blocked five shots in the second half.

Allen made a slick play early the period, as Karlee Taylor (Asheville, N.C.) found the junior forward in transition for the bucket and a foul. The play cut the Eagles' lead to seven but the Blue Hose could pull no closer despite seven second-half points from Allen and six from Taylor.

The Blue Hose held NC Central to six points in the game's final 8:47. PC's bench also outscored the Eagles' reserves, 18 to 12.

Davis picked up 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Eagles while Jessica Freeman led the visitors in scoring with 18 points.