CLINTON, S.C. – Following a 15-day break due to COVID-19 concerns, the Presbyterian College women's basketball team returns to the court on Saturday at East Tennessee State.
Matchup: Presbyterian (0-1) at ETSU (1-2)
Date: Saturday, December 12
Time: 12:00 pm
Site: Brooks Gym (Johnson City, Tenn.)
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: www.GoBlueHose.com
Twitter: @bluehosewbb
Notes
Returning to Action...
Presbyterian returns to the court on Saturday afternoon at ETSU, 15 days after its season opener at Clemson. The last time the Blue Hose had an in-season layoff of over two weeks was during non-conference play last year, when they bounced back from a 70-60 setback to UNCW on Dec. 4 to beat Brevard 74-45 on Dec. 21.
Positive Test Puts Season on Hold...
On Nov. 30, the Presbyterian women's basketball team announced a pause in team activities after a member of the program tested positive for COVID-19. This pause caused the cancellation of a pair of non-conference tilts, including a trip to Furman (Dec. 1) and the team's originally scheduled home opener against Mercer (Dec. 10). This brought PC's total number of games affected by COVID-19 to three, as the team's season-opening trip to Kennesaw State was canceled following multiple positive tests within the KSU program.
Last Time Out...
PC began its 2020-21 season back on Nov. 27 with a 92-47 loss at Clemson. The Blue Hose struggled from the field in the contest, as they were held to 26.5 percent (18-68) from the floor, and connected on just one of their 28 three-point attempts. Sophomore transfer Nyah Willis led the way with 14 points in her PC debut. The San Jose, Calif., native also tied for the team lead in rebounds with six and blocked a pair of shots. The loss dropped Presbyterian to 21-23 all-time in season openers.
First Impressions...
Four players made their Blue Hose debuts in the season-opening setback at Clemson. Sophomore transfer Nyah Willis earned a start for PC, paced the team in scoring with 14 points and tied for the team lead with six rebounds. Freshmen Aaliyah Austin, Maleia Bracone and Sabrina Belquist all made their collegiate debuts. Bracone scored six points and had a game-high four steals, while Austin chipped in two points and four rebounds.
Scouting the Bucs...
ETSU enters Saturday's contest at 1-2 and is coming off of an 81-61 loss at Vanderbilt on Tuesday evening. The Buccaneers did not have anyone score in double-figures against the Commodores, but featured a balanced offense which saw six players score at least six points, led by nine apiece from redshirt sophomore forward Mykia Dowdell and junior forward Shynia Jackson. Freshman center Jakhiya Davis paces ETSU in scoring through three games, averaging 10.3 points per game, which included a team-best 13 in a season-opening 62-56 win at fellow Big South foe Longwood. Saturday marks the first time that the Blue Hose and Buccaneers have met on the hardwood.
Defense Spearheads Improvement...
In her second season at the helm, Presbyterian head coach Alaura Sharp guided the Blue Hose to a 12-18 overall record and 7-13 mark in the Big South. It was a five-win improvement over 2018-19, and three-win improvement in conference play. PC also won its first round game in the Big South Championship for the second straight season, and reached the quarterfinal stage of the tournament for the eighth consecutive year. Defense was a big reason for the Blue Hose improvement, as opponents averaged 6.2 fewer points per game (from 65.5 in 2018-19 down to 59.3). PC's opponent field goal percentage dropped from .414 to .394 and opponent three-point percentage from .336 to .300. The Blue Hose also forced an average of 1.7 more turnovers per game, turning their opponents over an average of 17.5 times per contest.
All-Conference Honors...
Trinity Johnson (Honorable Mention) and Tionna Carter (All-Freshman) both earned postseason recognition from the Big South Conference at the end of last season. Johnson, who was also selected to the Big South Preseason All-Conference Second Team earlier this fall, led PC with 15.2 points and 3.7 assists per game, finishing sixth in the conference in both categories. She also finished second in the Big South in steals (75), and led the league in both free throws made (134) and attempted (180), all of which were DI era single-season program records. Carter was second on PC in both scoring (8.9 ppg) and rebounding (5.5 rpg), and bumped her averages up to 10.1 ppg and 6.1 rpg in conference play.
100 3's Club...
Two Blue Hose sharpshooters are within striking distance of making the 100th three-pointer of their collegiate careers. Junior guard Shamani Stafford (92) sits eight shy of the milestone, while senior forward Tess Santos (87) needs 13 triples to reach 100. Seven other Blue Hose have reached 100 career three-pointers in the program's DI era, with Karlee Taylor making a record 264 from 2010-14.
Back in Blue...
Coach Sharp brings back four starters from last year's squad, with Tionna Carter (30 GP/19 GS), Jade Compton (30 GP/28 GS), Trinity Johnson (29 GP/29 GS) and Tess Santos (30 GP/28 GS) all back in the fold. In total, the Blue Hose returned 10 letterwinners, which accounted for 77 percent of their scoring back in 2019-20. Among those back are the team's top three scorers from a year ago in Johnson (15.2 ppg), Carter (8.9 ppg) and Compton (8.2 ppg).
New Kids on the Block...
Coach Sharp brought five newcomers into the fold for the 2020-21 season, four freshmen and one transfer. Center Aaliyah Austin (Satsuma, Ala.) and guards Sabrina Belquist (Los Gatos, Calif.), Maleia Bracone (Anderson, S.C.) and Kelsey Brown (Simpsonville, S.C.) make up PC's incoming freshman class, while sophomore guard Nyah Willis (San Jose, Calif.) joins the Blue Hose as a transfer from Chabot College in Hayward, Calif.
