CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College women's basketball team begins the 2021-22 season on Tuesday night with a trip to No. 13 Kentucky to face the Wildcats at 7 p.m. The contest will take place at Memorial Coliseum and be broadcast on SEC Network +.
Matchup: Presbyterian (0-0) at No. 13 Kentucky (0-0)
Date: Tuesday, November 9
Time: 7:00 pm
Site: Memorial Coliseum (Lexington, Ky.)
Live Video: SEC Network +
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter: @bluehosewbb
Game Notes
Notes
Opening Tip...
Presbyterian College begins the 2021-22 season on Tuesday with a trip to #13 ranked Kentucky before returning to the Palmetto state for a matchup on Friday night at Furman. In PC's last on-court action during the spring season, the Blue Hose nearly rallied from a double-digit fourth quarter deficit, but ultimately fell 66-62 to fourth-seeded Gardner-Webb in Big South Conference Championship Quarterfinal action from Paul Porter Arena on Monday evening. Jade Compton netted a team-high 16 points for PC, while Maleia Bracone notched her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
For Openers...
The Blue Hose are 21-23 all-time in season openers, but just 2-12 since moving to Division I for the 2007-08 campaign. This season marks the first time that PC has faced Kentucky in the Blue Hose DI history. The Blue Hose defeated Clemson to begin the 2012-13 season, which kicked off a DI era-best 19-win campaign for PC. Presbyterian's other season-opening victory since moving to Division I came last year, when it took down another in-state opponent, South Carolina State, 70-49 in Orangeburg.
On Tap...
PC is scheduled to play 27 contests under the directon of fourth year head coach Alaura Sharp during the 2021-22 season including 18 league games which begin on December 29th inside the Templeton Center. The Blue Hose are slated to make trips to Kentucky, Clemson, Furman, Jacksonville and Vanderbilt in non-conference play while welcoming UNCG, ETSU and the likes of St. Thomas to Clinton. Presbyterian will play seven home-homes in league play with single matchups slated for UNC Asheville, Campbell, High Point and Winthrop.
Scouting the Wildcats...
Kentucky finished last season with an 18-9 record as the Wildcats made the second round of the NCAA tournament before falling to Iowa. Kentucky is led by Rhyne Howard who earned preseason honors from the AP First Team All-American along with countless other honors. Howard last season averaging 20.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 3.8 apg while making 44% of her field goals and 37% from beyond the arc. Jazmine Massengill was tabbed to the Nancy Lieberman Preseason Watch List as well.
Back in Blue
Coach Sharp brings back four starters from last year's squad, with Tionna Carter,Jade Compton, Trinity Johnson and Nyah Willis getting the start in all 21 games last season for the Blue Hose. PC returns its top five scores from a year ago in Carter (12.7 ppg), Compton (12.1), Johnson (10.0 ppg), Willis (8.7 ppg) and Maleia Bracone (8.0 ppg). PC returns 88.1 percent of its scoring from a season ago including the aformentioned five. The Blue Hose welcome back their top five rebounders from a season ago led by Compton averaging 8.0 per game last season.
Conference Leaders
In the abbreviated 2021 season, PC paced the conference in rebound margin with a +4.9 and was second in the league in scoring defense at 58.7 points per game allowed. Individually, Trinity Johnson was third in the league with 4.4 assists per game, while Jade Compton was fourth in the conference with 8.0 rebounds per contest.
New Kids on the Block
Coach Sharp has brought five newcomers into the fold for the 2021-22 season, four freshmen and one transfer. Center Bryanna Brady (Goodyear, Ariz.) transfered to Presbyterian College from UC Riverside. Joining the Blue Hose as freshman are guards A'Nyah Barker (Fair Lawn, N.J.), Jo Raflo (Gainsville, Va.), Paige Kindseth (Farmington, Minn.) and forward Jasmine Stevens (Atlanta, Ga.) all make up the Blue Hose incoming freshman class.
Johnson Record Chasing
Senior guard Trinity Johnson begins the 2021-22 season within striking distance of becoming the sixth Blue Hose in the DI era to eclipse 1,000+ points in her career. Johnson enters the season needing just 100 points to acheive the milestone. Johnson would be the first since Kacie Hall reached 1,099 during her time at PC from 2016-20. Johnson also needs 28 assists to climb to second in the Blue Hose DI record book. She will enter the season third in steals with 143 as Cortney Storey holds the top spot in the DI record book at 227.
