ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Presbyterian College women's basketball team mounted a furious rally in the second half of its Big South Conference game at Winthrop on Saturday but could not overcome the Eagles, falling 55-50.
PC falls to 2-9 overall and 0-2 in the Big South. The Blue Hose will next head to UNC Asheville for a Big South clash on Monday night at 7 p.m. Winthrop improves to 7-3 on the year, 2-0 in the Big South and hosts Charleston Southern on Monday at 2 p.m. The two sides meet again in Clinton on Saturday, February 1.
Down by 16 at the half, PC rallied in the second frame to pull within five down the stretch before time ran out. The Blue Hose outscored the Eagles 35-24 in the second half thanks in part to 11 points from Keyonna Allen (Forest Park, Ga.) in the final 20 minutes. Allen finished with 15 points and a career-high 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. Karlee Taylor (Asheville, N.C.) matched Allen's game-high 15 points.
PC forced nine second-half turnovers, feasting on steals from plays in the post to generate offense going the other way. The Blue Hose chipped away at the Eagles' lead by holding Winthrop to 10 points in the final 10 minutes.
Down 45-28 with 10:10 to go, PC turned to Allen and Sherece Smith (Clemson, S.C.) for five straight points before Kaycie Reffner (Altoona, Pa.) knocked down her first three-pointer of the day following an Eagle free throw. Two more points for Allen cut Winthrop's lead to single-digits and another Reffner trey with 4:47 left made it a seven-point game.
Allen scored four straight points for PC to cut the gap to six points. After two Winthrop free throws, Taylor drained a three-pointer at the top of the key and PC took its last timeout, trailing 53-48 with 2:34 to go. Unfortunately for PC, the Blue Hose pulled no closer despite an Aianna Kelly (Newport News, Va.) bucket following pressure on the inbounds pass in the closing seconds.
PC held Winthrop to 32.0 percent shooting in the second half while boasting a 48.1 shooting percentage of its own in the stanza. Smith grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds in the loss while Kelly dished out a career-high six assists, including four in the second half.
Zoe Vernon led Winthrop with 13 points. Schaquilla Nunn added 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Blue Hose surged out to an early lead before a big run from the Eagles helped the home side to a 31-15 halftime advantage.
Taylor scored PC's first seven points of the game to give the Blue Hose a quick lead. The space would prove short-lived, however, as Winthrop then rattled off 15 straight points before a Smith steal and fastbreak layup halted the run midway through the half. Kelly then followed with a steal and layup combination of her own to cut the Eagles' lead to nine.
Allen scored PC's final three points of the half but Winthrop continued to attack as the Eagles stretched their lead to 16 at the break. The Blue Hose matched Winthrop in offensive rebounds (eight) but could not match the Eagles' shooting touch, firing at a 19.2 percent clip in the first half to Winthrop's 42.9 percent shooting percentage.
