CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College women's basketball team held off a late comeback bid from Gardner-Webb and gutted out a victory in its Big South Conference opener with a 55-50 result over the Runnin' Bulldogs on Tuesday night at the Templeton Center.
PC (4-3, 1-0 Big South) led by 11 with 1:23 to go in the game, but eight straight points from Gardner-Webb (3-4, 0-1 Big South) made it 53-50 with 12 seconds left. A foul sent true freshman Janie Miles (Clemson, S.C.) to the line and the rookie made her second free throw for her game-high 11th point. On the other end, a missed Runnin' Bulldog trey gave Rebecca Walker (Snellville, Ga.) her team-high fifth rebound and the sophomore iced the win with a free-throw in the closing seconds.
The Blue Hose continue Big South action on the road this weekend when they take on High Point for a 2 p.m. tipoff. Gardner-Webb next heads to UNC Greensboro on Friday for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
Tuesday's win marks PC's fourth in its last five games. The lone loss came by two points at Xavier last Wednesday.
Miles led PC with 11 points while playing a career-high 34 minutes. Aianna Kelly (Newport News, Va.) added eight points and a season-high five assists while Cortney Storey (Fayetteville, Tenn.) poured in eight points as well. Kiera Currie paced Gardner-Webb with 11 points and seven rebounds while Jessica Heilig chipped in 11 points as well.
PC raced out to a commanding 16-2 lead with 10 minutes to play in the first half, but the Runnin' Bulldogs gradually trimmed their deficit to five points with a minute to play before Walker sank a foul shot to give PC a six-point, 25-19 lead at halftime. Miles had seven points for the Blue Hose in the first half and Aianna Kelly tallied six points and two assists.
The Blue Hose turned over the ball 14 times in the opening half but cut that number nearly half in the second while forcing a season-high 22 turnovers. The home side also scored 24 points off the bench to Gardner-Webb's 13 and shot 44.4 percent while holding the visitors to 31.3 percent.
Gardner-Webb came back from the halftime break guns blazing, tying it up 27-27 with 15:17 to play. The Runnin' Bulldogs tied the game two more times, the last at 33-33 with 10:20 on the clock. Jameka Braden (Shelbyville, Tenn.) made two crucial back-to-back three pointers near the four-minute mark to give the Blue Hose an 11-point, 50-39 lead. Keyonna Allen (Forest Park, Ga.) played only 14 minutes due to foul trouble but made her impact with three rebounds and four points in the second half, including a layup to restore the double-digit lead.
Alexus Hill converted a layup of her own before back-to-back threes from Mayhana Dunovant and Hill made it a three-point game to set up the deciding final seconds.
