Presbyterian College at High Point
Saturday, December 6 - 2 p.m.
Millis Center - High Point, N.C.
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PC Game Notes
HIGH POINT, N.C. - Presbyterian College women's basketball (4-3, 1-0 Big South) continues Big South Conference play on Saturday afternoon at High Point (4-3, 1-0 Big South) at 2 p.m. The game marks PC's final League game until December 30 and begins a stretch of four road dates over its next five games. The Blue Hose look to maintain the momentum that has carried them to wins in four of their last five games, including a 55-50 home victory over Gardner-Webb on Tuesday. PC will aim to knock off a High Point squad that enjoys an identical 4-3 (1-0) record after an 81-60 home victory over Longwood on Tuesday night. The Blue Hose last started a Big South season at 2-0 in 2012 with wins over Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina.
High Point holds an 11-2 record over the Blue Hose since the series began in 2005-06, though PC has taken two of the last three meetings. The Panthers have gone 11-0 at the Millis Center against PC after a 75-64 win in last season's first game between the two teams. A little over a month later, PC took the second meeting in a 56-40 result where the Blue Hose shot 51.1 percent for the win. Aianna Kelly nearly posted a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds while Keyonna Allen added nine points and eight boards.
High Point hosts PC in the third game of a four-game homestand. The Panthers have assembled a 4-3 record with back-to-back wins over Elon (87-71) and Longwood (81-60) and have yet to lose at home this season. Sophomore Kaylah Keys earned the Big South Conference Preseason Player of the Year award after capturing the League's Freshman of the Year honor last season. Keys paces the squad with 17.7 points per game to rank second in the Big South. The Panthers boast the second-best scoring offense, averaging 74.6 points per outing.
The Blue Hose 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. Janie Miles led PC with 11 points while playing a career-high 34 minutes. Aianna Kelly added eight points and a season-high five assists while Cortney Storey poured in eight points as well.
PC snapped a two-game program losing streak to SC State with a smothering 46-33 win on Saturday. SC State's 20.3 shooting percentage (12-for-59), 33 points and 14 points in a half marked season-lows for PC foes. The Blue Hose last held an opponent to 33 points with a 50-30 win over Coastal Carolina on December 29, 2012. Freshman guard Cortney Storey led PC in scoring for the first time with 10 points.
The Blue Hose boast the nation's top scoring defense through their first seven games, holding opponents to an average of 44.7 points per game. Gardner-Webb became the second team this season to crack the 50-point barrier with 50 on Tuesday. PC has held foes to 41, 45, 44, 45 and 33 points in the team's other five games.
PC ranks second in the country in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 28.5 percent of their shots. The Blue Hose held South Carolina State to 20.3 shooting on Saturday, allowing only 12 field goals on 59 attempts. PC has held all seven of its opponents to under 40 percent from the field this season. The team accomplished that feat 22 times last season with a 9-13 record, allowing over 40 percent only eight times.
PC has played seven players this season in their first season of collegiate basketball. Those seven (Janie Miles, Allie Wagner, Cortney Storey, Tia Mason, Elizabeth Landers, Jameka Braden and Kendra Talley) have contributed 49.3 of the team's points and 37.8 percent of the team's rebounds. On Tuesday against Gardner-Webb, first-year players played 109 out of 200 minutes.
Head coach Ronny Fisher returns for his seventh season as head coach. Fisher was named the Big South Conference's Coach of the Year in 2012-13, PC's first coach in any sport to achieve that honor. He ranks third in program history with 67 wins, standing six away from both Randy Randall (1977-84) and Byron Rucker (1984-89) in second.
PC takes a week off competition for final exams and returns to host Southern Wesleyan on Monday, December 15 in its annual Education Day game at 11:30 a.m.
