LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Presbyterian College women's basketball team mounted another furious comeback bid behind Karlee Taylor's (Asheville, N.C.) career-high 24 points on Saturday night at Liberty, but the effort fell short against the Big South Conference-leading Flames at the Vines Center, 59-51.
PC moves to 3-13 on the year and 1-6 in the Big South. The Blue Hose host Coastal Carolina on Thursday at 7 p.m. Liberty improves to 10-6 overall, 6-1 in league action and travels to Winthrop on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
Taylor's 24 points stands as the third most in a PC Division I game and her six three-pointers tie a school Division I record as well, a feat she accomplished for the third time on Saturday. The senior guard also grabbed a career-high eight rebounds to tie Keyonna Allen for the team lead.
Down by 16 points midway through the second half, the Blue Hose slashed the deficit to four points with 2:16 to go but could not complete the comeback. Facing a 53-41 hole at the 4:01 mark, PC scored eight straight points—five from Taylor on a three and free throws, two from Noelle Carter (Neptune, N.J.) and two from Keyonna Allen (Forest Park, Ga.)—to make it a 53-49 contest on a no-doubt three from Taylor.
Two Emily Frazier foul shots put Liberty ahead by six before Rebecca Walker (Snellville, Ga.) tipped in an offensive rebound with 48 seconds to go. Forced to foul, PC sent Liberty to the line four more times to stop the clock and the Flames capitalized en route to the win, 59-51.
PC took extremely good care of the ball, committing only five turnovers—three of which came in the first half. The team's 13 offensive rebounds also bested Liberty in that category (nine) as well.
Ashley Rininger led Liberty with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
The Blue Hose played sharp defense in the first half and headed into halftime down by only six points, 29-23, despite a cold shooting performance (26.7 percent) from the floor.
Allen carried PC through the first few minutes, grabbing six rebounds in the first six minutes. Taylor knocked down two three-pointers in the opening stanza and Aianna Kelly (Newport News, Va.) added five points.
The Blue Hose stayed within striking distance throughout the half, and a Taylor trey at the 7:10 mark narrowed the gap to two points. Every time PC pulled close, however, Liberty would extend its lead a little more. The home side led by nine points with three minutes before halftime but two Taylor free throws and a Kelly jumper from inside the arc helped shave three points off of the Flames' advantage.
A balanced offense also helped keep PC within range. Seven Blue Hose tallied at least a point in the half and six players dished out an assist.
The second half featured runs from both sides to start the period. The Flames started with eight straight points, followed by six unanswered from Blue Hose thanks to Taylor and Noelle Carter. Carter turned in a solid performance on the night, scoring six points and committing zero turnovers. The Flames eventually strung together a 6-0 run before Megan Schaaf (Ellicott City, Md.) converted a pair of free throws.
Schaaf's foul shots kick-started a 7-0 PC run over which the Blue Hose held the Flames scoreless for over four and a half minutes and made it a single-digit game, setting up the team's final run.
With her 24 points, Taylor passed Dria David (2009-13) for second-place in PC's Division I career points ledger. She currently stands at 978.
