BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The Presbyterian College women's basketball team used another hot-shooting performance to win its fifth straight game and down the Campbell Camels on Thursday night, 58-53.
PC improves to 10-17 overall and 8-10 in Big South play. The Blue Hose next travel to Coastal Carolina to face the Chanticleers on Saturday at 2 p.m. Campbell falls to 16-10 on the year, 11-6 in league action and hosts Gardner-Webb on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Karlee Taylor (Asheville, N.C.) scored a game-high 22 points, the second straight game the senior guard has hit the 20-point plateau. Taylor knocked down six three-pointers on the night. Freshman Rebecca Walker (Snellville, Ga.) added 13 points off of the bench and went 4-for-5 from the floor, part of PC's 47.6 percent shooting effort on the evening.
PC held Campbell to 33.3 percent shooting on Thursday, including a 30.3 percent in the second half.
The Blue Hose took their first lead midway through the first half, eventually wresting control away from the Camels with a Walker jumper for a 15-13 advantage. Campbell retook the lead and PC trailed by five with 4:41 to go in the period, but back-to-back three-pointers from Taylor put PC back in the driver's seat.
Noelle Carter (Neptune, N.J.) drained a jumper with 44 seconds left for a three-point lead and after two Campbell free throws, PC headed into the locker room with a 25-24 halftime advantage.
Almost half of PC's scoring came from Walker, who tallied 10 points and three assists in the first half. Kaycie Reffner (Altoona, Pa.) also dished out three assists and neither freshman committed a turnover in the opening period.
The two teams swapped leads throughout the start of the second half before PC began to pull away five minutes into the stanza. A Taylor three-pointer broke a 34-34 deadlock, kicking off a nine-point Blue Hose run. Sherece Smith (Clemson, S.C.) followed with two jumpers before Taylor added two more points of her own.
After a Heather Beadle free throw stopped PC's run, Keyonna Allen (Forest Park, Ga.) gave PC a double-digit lead with a layup at the 10:30 mark. Taylor hit another three-pointer a minute and a half later to put the visitors up by 11 and another Allen layup made it a 13-point game, the team's largest lead of the night.
The Camels whittled away at PC's lead down the stretch, pulling within three points on a Roslyn Presley three-pointer with 47 seconds to go. A pair of clutch Megan Schaaf (Ellicott City, Md.) free throws put PC back up by five and, after two Camel free throws, Taylor salted away the win with two more with 13 seconds left for the win.
Campbell struggled from long range, going 3-for-25 (12 percent) on the evening. Roslyn Presley led Campbell with 19 points and eight rebounds.
