Women's Basketball 12/15/2020 3:57:00 PM Rob Low

PC Begins Conference Play Against Gardner-Webb

CLINTON, S.C. – After opening the season with a pair of road tilts, the Presbyterian College women's basketball team returns to Clinton on Wednesday and Thursday to open up its home and Big South Conference schedule with a two-game series against Gardner-Webb.

Matchup: Presbyterian (1-1, 0-0) vs Gardner-Webb (0-4, 0-0)
Date: Wednesday & Thursday, December 16-17
Time: 6:00 pm / 5:00 pm
Site: Templeton Center (Clinton, S.C.)
Live Video: Game 1 Game 2
Live Stats: Game 1 Game 2
Twitter: @bluehosewbb

Notes

For Openers...
Presbyterian opens Big South Conference play this week with its first conference series against Gardner-Webb. The Blue Hose are 4-8 in Big South openers since joining the league for the 2008-09 season, with a 4-4 mark at home in those contests. Presbyterian has begun Big South play against Gardner-Webb twice, falling to GWU at home to start league play in 2013-14, but beating the Runnin' Bulldogs in Clinton the next season. Wednesday's game also serves as PC's home opener. The Blue Hose are 31-12 all-time in home openers and 6-7 since moving to Division I in 2007-08. PC knocked off William Peace 72-35 in last year's home opener.

Last Time Out...
PC returned from a two-week hiatus with an emphatic 68-38 win at ETSU last Saturday. Tionna Carter led the way with game highs in both points (16) and rebounds (14) for her first double-double of the season. The Blue Hose opened the game on a 16-0 run, and led by no fewer than 14 for the remainder of the afternoon, as they evened their record at 1-1.

Lockdown Defense...
After allowing Clemson to score 92 points on 52.1 percent shooting in their season opener, the Blue Hose defense bounced back in a big way on Saturday, holding ETSU to 38 points on 21.2 percent shooting. PC's defense was locked in from the start, as it held the Buccaneers without a point for the first 6:27 of the game, and without a field goal for the first 8:44. The 38 points were the second-fewest allowed by the Blue Hose under third-year coach Alaura Sharp, and the lowest total against a DI opponent during her tenure. ETSU's 21.2 percent field goal percentage was the fourth-lowest allowed by PC in its DI era.

Carter Named Player of the Week...
For the first time in her career, Tionna Carter was named the Big South Player of the Week by the conference on Monday. Carter registered her first double-double of the season, and third of her career, in PC's lone game last week, a 68-38 rout of ETSU. The sophomore went 7-of-9 for a game-high 16 points, and also snatched a game-high 14 rebounds, one shy of her career high. Carter is the first PC player to win a weekly award since Trinity Johnson in December of last season.

Scouting the Runnin' Bulldogs...
Gardner-Webb enters this week's series at 0-4, falling at Virginia Tech in its most recent game on Dec. 6. The 'Dogs boast three scorers who are averaging double-figures, led by two-time Freshman of the Week Alasia Smith, who is averaging 12.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per contest. PC owns a 14-11 edge over GWU since the two teams joined the Big South, and swept the season series last year.

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.

Big South Schedule...
In order to limit travel this season, the Big South has instituted a 20-game league schedule which sees every team play each other twice, on back-to-back days at the same location. PC is slated to host series against Gardner-Webb (Dec. 16-17), UNC Asheville (Jan. 4-5), Campbell (Jan. 15-16), High Point (Jan. 22-23) and Hampton (Feb. 12-13). The Blue Hose road opponents are Radford (Dec. 30-31), USC Upstate (Jan. 9-10), Longwood (Jan. 29-30), Charleston Southern (Feb. 19-20) and Winthrop (Feb. 26-27). Each team also has a built-in bye week and there is an open week at the end of the season prior to the Big South Championship to allow for flexibility should alterations be needed.

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 (93) sits seven shy of the milestone, while senior forward Tess Santos (89) needs 11 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 brought 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 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.

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Players Mentioned

#22 Tionna Carter: F; 6' 1"; Freshman

#32 Jade Compton: F; 5' 10"; Junior

#14 Trinity Johnson: G; 5' 6"; Sophomore

#15 Tess Santos: F; 6' 0"; Junior

#23 Shamani Stafford: G; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#11 Sabrina Belquist: G; 5' 11"; Freshman

#24 Nyah Willis: G; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#4 Kelsey Brown: G; 5' 7"; Freshman

#00 Maleia Bracone: G; 5' 10"; Freshman

#21 Aaliyah Austin: C; 6' 2"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#22 Tionna Carter
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: F

#32 Jade Compton
: 5' 10"; Junior
: F

#14 Trinity Johnson
: 5' 6"; Sophomore
: G

#15 Tess Santos
: 6' 0"; Junior
: F

#23 Shamani Stafford
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: G

#11 Sabrina Belquist
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: G

#24 Nyah Willis
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: G

#4 Kelsey Brown
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: G

#00 Maleia Bracone
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: G

#21 Aaliyah Austin
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: C