CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College women's basketball used a balanced attack on Wednesday to lead to an 82-53 victory over USC Upstate inside the Templeton Center. Freshman Aubrie Kierscht led all scorers with 18 points as she connected on four threes in the win. Bryanna Brady added 14 points as Christina Kline filled the stat sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
FINAL SCORE: Presbyterian 82, USC Upstate 53
LOCATION: Templeton Center (Clinton, S.C.)
RECORDS: Presbyterian (8-10, 4-3) | USC Upstate (7-10, 4-2)
Scoring the Game
- USC Upstate got on the board quickly with an early 5-2 burst to get the early advantage before the Blue Hose scored the next nine points to take an 11-5 lead with 5:18 to play, which forced a Spartan timeout. Upstate quickly cut it to five, 14-9, before the Blue Hose closed the quarter on a 12-5 run to take a 26-14 lead after one quarter.
- PC came out of the second quarter gates fast with six straight points to push the lead to 32-14 with 7:40 to play in the half forcing USC Upstate to call another timeout. The Blue Hose extended it to 34-14 before a quick three-point play from the Spartans cut it to 34-17 with 2:27 to play in the half. Laila Grant and Mara Neira connected on a pair of late threes to push it back to 23, 40-17, before a 5-0 Spartans burst made it 40-22 at the break.
- The Spartans came out quickly in the second half scoring five of the first eight points to cut it to 16, 43-27, with 6:50 to play in the quarter, which led to a PC timeout. Tilda Sjökvist connected on a pair of threes to answer the Spartans each time and before an 8-3 PC run extended to 54-32 with 5:01 to play in the frame. The Spartans continued to have answers before the Blue Hose scored nine of the final 13 points in the quarter to take a 63-37 lead to the fourth.
- Upstate got the scoring started in the fourth with a pair of jumpers before PC rattled off eight of the following 10 points to push it to 71-43 with 5:37 to play. PC and USC Upstate traded four-point spurts, but the Spartans could not get any closer on Wednesday as PC earned the 82-53 victory over the visiting Spartans.
Players of the Game
- Kierscht led the Blue Hose for the second time this season, scoring 18 points in the contest, going 7-of-16 from the field, and adding four triples. Brady added 14 points in the victory as she was 6-of-8 from the floor. Kline rounded out the double-figure scoring on the night with 10 points as she pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. The Blue Hose distributed 20 assists, including Sjökvist, Kline, and Neira, each tallying a team-high four helpers. Talia Roldan led the Spartans with 13 points as she went 6-of-8 from the floor, while AC Markham added 10 points and six rebounds in the defeat. Isabella Geraci led Upstate with eight rebounds. Jeni Levine paced the Spartans on Wednesday with four assists.
Stats of the Game
- Presbyterian shot 46.3% (31-of-67) compared to 42% from USC Upstate as the Spartans connected on 21-of-50 field goals. The Blue Hose buried 12 three-pointers and limited the guests to just three from beyond the arc. Both teams made eight free throws, with PC needing 12 attempts and the Spartans needing 15 tries. The Blue Hose won the battle on the glass by 11, 40-29, including 13 offensive rebounds. PC distributed 20 assists compared to nine for USC Upstate. PC forced a season-high 14 steals, which were also a part of a season-high 25 turnovers forced.
Notables
- Kierscht matched her career-high on Wednesday with 18 points as she connected a career-best seven field goals.
- With her four threes, Kierscht now leads the conference by four in Big South contests with 26 threes thru seven league games.
- Sjökvist matched her career-high with three triples on just three attempts on Wednesday as she also tallied four helpers in the victory.
- Kline matched her career-high on Wednesday with seven rebounds to pace the Blue Hose for the second time this season. She also tallied 10 points in the victory.
- Brady kept up her strong league play as she tallied 14 points for her fifth consecutive double-figure scoring output and sixth overall in conference play. The fifth-year senior has a team-high 16.0 ppg in league games.
- PC's 12 three-pointers mark the fifth time in the last eight games that the Blue Hose have connected on 10+ threes in a game. PC improves to 4-1 in the five contests.
- The Blue Hose tallied a season-high 14 steals, which saw five players record a pair of steals in the victory.
- USC Upstate turned it over 25 times on Wednesday, marking a season-high for the Blue Hose in turnovers forced throughout the 2022-23 season.
- The Blue Hose improved to 7-3 on the season when outrebounding the opponent after the +11 in rebounds over the Spartans. PC also grabbed its seventh victory when connecting on more threes than the opponent.
Up Next
- The Blue Hose hit the road for the first time in 10 days with a 2 p.m. tip against Longwood from Farmville. The matchup with the Lancers will be shown on ESPN+.
