CONWAY, S.C. – The Presbyterian College women's basketball team dropped its quarterfinal matchup at the VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Conference Championship on Thursday night to No. 2 Liberty at the HTC Center, 67-42.
PC ends its season at 12-19 overall wile Liberty improves to 20-10 and faces the winner of Thursday night's Winthrop/Coastal Carolina game in the semifinals.
Liberty outscored PC 35-14 in the first half but PC delivered a better second, posting 28 points to the Flames' 32.
Karlee Taylor (Asheville, N.C.) led PC with 12 points. Keyonna Allen (Forest Park, Ga.) added nine rebounds.
The Flames raced out to an 11-0 run to start the game before Kaycie Reffner (Altoona, Pa.) doused the run with a three-pointer at the 12:22 mark. Reffner finished the game with seven points to match Sherece Smith (Clemson, S.C.).
Taylor and Smith worked to chip away at Liberty's lead, but the Flames used an 11-2 run to take a 24-8 lead into the final media timeout of the half.
PC battled hard in the final 3:45 as Allen, Aianna Kelly (Newport News, Va.) and Reffner found the bottom of the net. The Flames continue to add to their lead, however, and took a 35-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Blue Hose scored the first five points of the second half on a Smith jumper and Taylor three before the Flames responded with 20 straight points of their own. Smith halted the run with another jumper for her fourth point of the period.
A Rebecca Walker (Snellville, Ga.) three-pointer and a Reffner trey contributed to PC's scoring midway through the frame.
Taylor knocked down another trey as PC held Liberty without a point for a 4:06 stretch.
After Liberty's second half surge, PC outscored the Flames 23-12 to the end of the game. The team went 4-for-8 from distance in the second half, led by Taylor's 10. Carter also contributed five points in the final stanza and Kelly dished out four of her team-high five assists.
