CHARLESTON, S.C. – An offensive explosion lifted the
Presbyterian College women's basketball team to a Big South Conference road win
over Charleston Southern on Saturday, 79-61.
The Blue Hose improve to 15-10 overall and 10-4 in the Big
South returns home to host Campbell on Thursday in its Play 4Kay game at 7 p.m. The 15 wins set a new Division I-era win total record for the program. The Buccaneers fall to 8-15 overall and 3-11 in league action. Charleston
Southern will host Coastal Carolina on Thursday at 7 p.m. as well.
It was a day of records for the Blue Hose. PC went 25-for-29
at the free throw line, tying the most free-throws in the team's Division I
history and tying for the best percentage at 86.2 percent. The team's 79 points mark a new season-high.
Shonda Burnside (Gray Court, S.C.) led PC with 18 points,
one of four visitors to score in double figures. Burnside also blocked four
shots, the second-most in PC's Division I era. The senior played a
career-high 37 minutes and went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
Mariah Pietrowski (Elizabethton, Tenn.) scored her 1,200th
career point in the win. Pietrowski went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line and
grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. The center also eclipsed 600 rebounds, moving her to sixth place in program history.
Karlee Taylor (Asheville, N.C.) scored 17 points thanks to a
5-for-5 day from beyond the arc. The junior entered the day ranked fifth in
NCAA Division I three-point field goal percentage.
Lakeitha Alston led all players with 23 points and nine
rebounds.
PC led 38-33 at half and pressed the pedal down in the
second, outscoring the Buccaneers by a 41-28 margin. The Blue Hose shot 53.5
percent on the day (23-for-43), knocking down more free throws than field
goals. PC also turned the ball over only eight times to set a new season-best
in that category.
PC came out of halftime on a 9-2 run and did not allow a
Charleston Southern field goal for the first 7:22 of the period. Shay Jones
scored the Buccaneers' first 10 points but could not help the home side
overcome a Blue Hose lead that swelled to 17 at the 7:47 mark.
Pietrowski scored 10 second half points, with eight coming
from the charity stripe. Dria David (Lawrenceville, Ga.) dished out three of
her five assists in the half. David finished with 12 points.
Burnside made several big plays. The senior blocked an
Alston three that led to a Chelsea Parker (Asheville, N.C.) trey on the other
end. Burnside later ripped a rebound out of a Buccaneer's hand, then put the ball back
up for a bucket. Parker scored a season-high nine points.
PC's lead never dipped below 13 and a slick Megan Schaaf
(Ellicott City, Md.) post move and layup gave the Blue Hose a 20-point
lead with 45 seconds remaining en route the 79-61 final.
An offense-driven first half saw 10 lead changes before the Blue
Hose ended the half on a 9-4 run to take a 38-33 lead into halftime.
Charleston Southern hung with PC thanks to 17 first-half
points from Lakeitha Alston and six three-pointers. Both teams shot well, with
PC converting at a 57.7 percent clip (15-for-26) and the Buccaneers shooting 50
percent (12-for-24).
The two teams swapped the lead nine times in the first 4:41
before a Burnside layup tied the game at 13:13. Charleston Southern then took a
lead that swelled to five at the midway point, but the Blue Hose clawed back
and tied the game twice more.
Chelsea Parker (Asheville, N.C.) put PC ahead prior to an
Alston jumper that brought the two teams even at 29-29 with 2:08 to go.
David knocked down a three-pointer to break the deadlock.
Alston scored again but Taylor drained her third three of the half (on her
third attempt) to give PC a four-point cushion. One Charleston Southern bucket
and another David trey later, PC headed into the locker room with a 38-33
advantage.
