CLINTON, S.C. - The Presbyterian College women's basketball team battled back from a 10-point game-opening deficit against the UNC Asheville Bulldogs to earn a 69-57 Big South Conference victory on Saturday afternoon at the Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C.
The Blue Hose improve to 7-6 overall (2-2 in the Big South) and will travel to Liberty on Monday, Jan. 5 to take on the Flames. The Bulldogs fall to 3-10 overall and 2-2 in conference play. They will take on Winthrop on Thursday, Jan. 8.
Cortney Storey (Fayetteville, Tenn.) led the Blue Hose with a game-high 15 points and four assists. Aianna Kelly (Newport News, Va.) had 14 points and seven rebounds, while Rebecca Walker (Snellville, Ga.) added 12 points for PC. Also, Keyonna Allen (Forest Park, Ga.) scored nine points and had eight boards for the hosts.
Tianna Knuckles tallied 14 points for the Bulldogs, while Bronaza Fitzgerald and Shonese Jones scored 11 and 10 points, respectfully.
PC shot 51.3% from the field, while UNC Asheville was 37.3%. The Blue Hose were 78.1% (25-32) from the foul line, including perfect 6-for-6 performances from Storey and Kelly. The Bulldogs were 16-for-23 from the charity stripe, with Knuckles making all six of her free throws. PC slightly out-rebounded Asheville 29-28 and was on the short end of turnovers (18-17).
The Bulldogs got out to a 10-0 lead in the opening four minutes of the game before a deep field goal by Walker put the Blue Hose on the board with 16:15 on the clock. PC clawed back from the deficit with a 9-point run to take a 19-18 lead for the first time in the contest with 8:05 to play on back-to-back scores by Elizabeth Landers off the bench. Walker hit a three to extend the PC lead to 22-18, but the Bulldogs responded with back-to-back treys to take back the lead. The teams tied it up two more times to close out the half, but Kelly scored the final four points of the frame to give the Blue Hose a 30-26 lead at halftime.
PC never trailed in the second half, getting out to a strong start by scoring the first four points of the frame and never looking back. The hosts maintained a strong lead midway through the half, leading by as much as 18 points on four occasions. The Bulldogs scored eight unanswered points at the 2:00 mark to cut it to 10 before PC sank all six foul shots in the final minute to put it away.
