CLINTON, S.C. – Keyonna Allen (Forest Park, Ga.) matched a career-high 22 points and set a new school Division I shooting record to power Presbyterian College women's basketball over High Point on Thursday night at the Templeton Center, 78-59.
Allen went 10-for-11 from the floor, tying a school Division I record with 10 field goals. Her 90.9 shooting percentage set a new school D-I marker (minimum of eight) and her 22 points tie a career-high, previously set 364 days prior at Radford.
High Point never led and PC's lead swelled to 19 in the second half, partly from the Blue Hose shooting 57.7 percent on the night and outscoring the Panthers 42 to 14 in the paint. The home side also forced seven turnovers from Stacia Robertson, who scored a team-high 14 and entered the game ranked third in the Big South Conference in scoring.
The Blue Hose improved to 12-11 overall, 7-7 in the Big South and will play at Radford on Saturday at 2 p.m. High Point dropped their third straight game in Clinton as their record dropped to 14-9 overall and 10-4 in the Big South. The Panthers next host Charleston Southern on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Elizabeth Landers (Greenville, S.C.) led PC on the boards with six rebounds. Four Blue Hose scored in double figures, with Cortney Storey (Fayetteville, Tenn.) adding 15 points, Janie Miles (Clemson, S.C.) scoring 13—while going 7-for-10 from the line—and Allie Wagner (Easley, S.C.) chipping in 12.
PC's 12 team steals also tied a season-high.
PC got out to a 10-point, 20-10, lead with 11:30 to play in the first half, but the Panthers cut it to two points, 21-19, just three minutes later. The Blue Hose closed out the first frame outscoring the Panthers 13-6 to take a 34-25 halftime lead. Freshman Allie Wagner notched a team-leading 10 points and four rebounds in the first half while Storey went a perfect 3-for-3 in field goals for eight first-half points.
The Blue Hose opened the second half with six-straight points and that set the tone for the rest of the game, as PC went on multiple scoring runs, including a 10-point run that put the hosts up by a game-high 19 points with just over seven minutes to play. The Panthers would only cut it to 14 points as the hosts finished the game with authority, capped by a Miles trey as time ran out on the shot clock on PC's last possession of the game.
Allen scored 16 second-half points en route to the win. Miles also dished out a team-high five assists for the hosts.
PC shot 14-for-22 from the foul line. The Panthers went 38 percent (18-for-47) from the field and 8-for-25 from long range. The Blue Hose out-rebounded the Panthers 31-21 and had 16 turnovers to the visitors' 22.
The Blue Hose continue to battle for position heading into next month's Big South Conference VisitMyrtleBeach.com Basketball Championships at The HTC Center in Conway, S.C. from March 3-8. Contact the PC ticket office at (864) 833-8240 for more information.
