CONWAY, S.C. – Despite a comeback bid that held Radford to no
field goals in the final 9:59, the Presbyterian College women's basketball team
fell in the quarterfinals of the VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Women's
Basketball Championship at The HTC Center on Friday afternoon, 41-38.
PC moves to 19-11 on the year and will await a possible
postseason tournament invitation. Radford improves to 16-13 and will face
Longwood in the semifinals on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Down by six with 2:25 remaining, the Blue Hose pulled to
within one at the 23-second mark but were unable to grab the win. A Shonda Burnside
(Gray Court, S.C.) layup cut Radford's lead to 39-38 before Breshara Gordon hit
two free throws with three seconds left. A Karlee Taylor (Asheville, N.C.) half-court
heave missed wide and Radford took the win.
PC held Radford to 25.0 percent shooting (13-for-52) on the
day but shot 28.3 percent (13-for-46) on its own. Rebounds made the difference,
as Radford collected 19 offensive rebounds out of its 48 total. Radford's
41 points are the lowest total ever by a winning team in Big South women's
tourney annals.
Burnside led PC with a game-high 14 points. Taylor added
eight points while Mariah Pietrowski's (Elizabethton, Tenn.) six rebounds led
the team in that category.
Diani Mason led Radford with 12 points while Sarah Tabb chipped
in 10 points and nine points.
Dria David (Lawrenceville, Ga.) left the game at the 17:23
mark of the first half with an injury and did not return.
The Blue Hose worked through a cold shooting performance
from both teams in the first half to a 20-15 Radford lead at halftime. PC
trailed by only five despite shooting 18.2 percent in the opening period,
helped by a similar 20-percent performance from Radford.
Nine of PC's 15 first half points came from beyond the arc
as Taylor provided six and Noelle Carter (Neptune, N.J.) scored three.
Thanks in part to four straight points from Burnside to open
the half, PC cut Radford's lead to one point three different times shortly
after the break.
Radford went on a 7-0 run midway through the second half
that PC snapped on a Taylor steal and pull-up jumper in transition.
The Highlanders then opened up an 11-point lead at 9:59 but
would not hit a field goal for the rest of the game. The Blue Hose scored six
straight points from Taylor, Carter and Pietrowski before Tabb hit two
free-throws to stop the run.
Burnside scored five unanswered points, capped by her layup
with 23 second left, to cut the Highlanders' lead to one and set up the
end-of-game dramatics.
Chelsea Parker (Asheville, N.C.) played in her 117th
career game on Friday, setting a new school Division I record.
