CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College women's basketball team used a smothering defensive performance and a 51.1 percent shooting effort to run its win streak to four games in a Big South Conference win over the visiting High Point Panthers on Saturday night, 56-48.
PC improves to 9-17 overall and 7-10 in the Big South. The Blue Hose will hit the road for the final regular season road trip next week, beginning at Campbell on Thursday at 7 p.m. High Point moves to 15-9 on the year, 11-4 in the Big South and next plays at Charleston Southern on Monday at 7 p.m.
The Blue Hose took a lead in the final minute of the first half and never looked back en route to the win, staying ahead for the entire second stanza.
PC used a season-high 27 points off turnovers and scored 30 of its points in the paint to knock off the Panthers, who entered Saturday in second place and with the league's longest winning streak at seven games.
Karlee Taylor (Asheville, N.C.) matched High Point's Kaylah Keys with a game-high 20 points, 12 of which came from beyond the three-point arc. With her four treys, Taylor passed Jill Neumann's (1997-2000) second-place mark of 248 career three-pointers in PC program history. The senior guard now sits 20 behind Chris Mitchum (1992-96) for the all-time school record.
The first half saw a back-and-forth battle until the half's home stretch. PC jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead on Taylor's first three-pointer of the night and held its lead through the first 12 minutes. The Panthers went on a 6-0 run to go ahead at the 7:44 mark, 15-14, on a Lexi Patterson three-ball.
Aianna Kelly (Newport News, Va.) finished an old-fashioned three-point play—three of her 11 points—but another Patterson trey put the visitors back ahead. High Point's lead reached five points with four minutes left and the Panthers led by one at the 1:12 mark. Taylor then knocked down a three-pointer from a Kaycie Reffner (Altoona, Pa.) assist and Sherece Smith (Clemson, S.C.) converted a buzzer-beating bucket to send PC into the locker room with a 30-26 lead.
PC did not let up in the second half, jumping out to a 7-1 run in the half's first 2:44. A Megan Schaaf (Ellicott City, Md.) layup capped the run, setting up a huge half for the senior forward. Schaaf went a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor for 10 points on the night, all in the final period.
Schaaf scored again six minutes later to make it a nine-point advantage, a margin the Blue Hose would hold for most of the rest of the game. Kaylah Keys knocked down a three to put the Panthers within three at 5:43, but Taylor answered right back with a trey of her own to give PC a double-digit lead.
Schaaf restored PC's 10 point lead and converted another layup at 2:29 to give PC its largest lead of the night, 56-44. From there, the Blue Hose cruised to the 56-48 final.
Kelly grabbed nine rebounds to lead all players and miss a double-double by one board. Sherece Smith also scored her 500th career point in the win and dished out five assists to go with two blocks, both game-highs.
