ST. PAUL, MINN. – In it's first trek on the road for the 2022-23 season, the Presbyterian College women's basketball team was unable to come out on the winning side on Saturday night as the Blue Hose suffered a 67-41 defeat to the host St. Thomas inside the Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn… Fifth-year senior Bryanna Brady tallied nine points to lead the Blue Hose scorers on Saturday.
FINAL SCORE: St. Thomas 67, Presbyterian 41
LOCATION: Schoenecker Arena (St. Paul, Minn.)
RECORDS: Presbyterian (2-2) | St. Thomas (2-2)
Scoring the Game
- The Blue Hose got on the board first with an Aubrie Kierscht three before a quick 6-0 burst over the next two minutes gave the hosts a three-point lead. Kierscht added a bucket to cut the game to 6-5 before a 7-2 burst from the Tommies extended it to a 13-7 lead late in the quarter. Mara Neira added a pair of free throws before a late triple from the hosts made it 16-9 after one.
- Both teams were held without points for the opening four minutes before each team traded a basket and then the Tommies and Blue Hose would trade three-pointers to push St. Thomas to a 21-14 lead with 3:23 to play. St. Thomas used a 6-2 run to push it to a 27-16 game before Neira tallied a late layup. The Tommies would make the last bucket of the half to take a 29-18 lead to the intermission.
- St. Thomas opened the second half on a 6-2 run over the first 3:30 minutes to take a 35-20 lead and force the Blue Hose to call an early timeout in the half. After a pair of free throws from the hosts, Bryanna Brady and Nuria Cunill connected on back-to-back layups to cut the deficit to 13, 37-24 at the 4:39 mark of the third quarter. The two teams traded 6-0 runs over the remainder of the third quarter leading to a 43-30 Tommies lead after three quarters.
- St. Thomas opened the fourth quarter on a 17-4 run over the first three minutes to extend the lead to 60-34 with 5:01 to go in the game. The two teams went back and forth throughout the remainder of the game with each team scoring seven en route to a 67-41 victory for the host Tommies.
Players of the Game
- Bryanna Brady led the Blue Hose with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting as she also grabbed three rebounds. Mara Neira added five rebounds in the contest to lead PC. Ashley Carrillo tallied a team-high four assists as Laila Grant added three of her own in the game. Jade Hill led all scorers on Saturday with 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field as she added four threes, four rebounds, four assists and five steals. Alexis Pratt added 10 points and five steals for St. Thomas. Maggie Negaard pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
Stats of the Game
- PC was held to 29.6% (16-of-54) from the floor as St. Thomas posted a 41.8% (23-of-55) on Saturday night. The Tommies connected on six threes compared to three from Presbyterian. The hosts went 15-of-21 at the foul line, while PC went 6-of-12 at the charity stripe. The Tommies had a slim 38-37 advantage on the glass with PC holding a 12-9 edge on the offensive glass. St. Thomas tallied a 24-19 edge in bench points. The Tommies forced 25 Blue Hose turnovers compared to 18 by the hosts. The hosts had a 32-22 edge in points in the paint.
Notables
- Carrillo dished out a career-high four assists on Saturday night. She's tallied an assists in each of the first games of the 22-23 season.
- Grant also hit a new career-high with three helpers as she had posted two assists in each of the first three games before her three assists.
Up Next
- The Blue Hose wrap up the weekend on Sunday with a 3 p.m. tip against Minnesota on BTN Plus. The Golden Gophers come into Sunday's tilt with a 2-1 record on the season after falling in their most recent action on Thursday at North Dakota State 71-65.
