Cullowhee, N.C. – The Presbyterian Blue Hose (6-3) beat the Western Carolina Catamounts (2-6) 60-41, behind three double-figure scorers.
 
Mara Neira led the team with her new season-high of 19 points while shooting 55.6% (5-of-9) from outside the arc. Bryanna Brady tallied 11 points and Tilda Sjökvist totaled 10 points in her efforts.
 
COACH SHARP'S THOUGHTS
"Really excited about how we responded after Western Carolina came out motivated and played really hard. Our kids showed up and did the work. We were able to steal some baskets in transition which I think was really big for us."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter – After a scoreless first two minutes of play, Brady sank both of her free throws to put the first two-points on the board. A layup from Sjökvist gave Presbyterian a 4-0 lead. A three-point play from Western Carolina gave them their first points of the game, but Neira made a layup to make the score 6-3 in PC's favor. The Catamounts were then able to go on a nine-point run to take their first lead of the game with a score of 12-6. Another basket from both sides ended the first quarter at 15-8.
 
Second Quarter – The Blue Hose started out the second quarter strong, scoring the first seven-points to tie the game at 15 points apiece. After the tie was pushed to 18 points each, PC scored nine of the next 12 points behind a three-pointer by Neira to give the Blue Hose a 27-21 lead with 3:00 to go in the first half. The Catamounts scored four-points before the end of the second quarter, but Presbyterian held the lead with a score of 27-25.
 
Third Quarter – Throughout the first four minutes of the third quarter only free throws were made from both teams, which pushed the score to 28-26. The Blue Hose scored four-points while holding the Catamounts to two before the media timeout. Presbyterian held Western Carolina to just three-points for the duration of the third quarter while they took nine-points of their own led by five-points from Núria Cunill. These efforts ended the third quarter with the Blue Hose in front, 41-33.
 
Fourth Quarter – Presbyterian started out the fourth quarter with a 10 point run led by back to back three-pointers by Neira. This run gave PC an 18 point lead with a score of 51-33. Western Carolina was able to get four-points back, but then PC took the next six. Ultimately, the Blue Hose took home the victory with a score 60-41.
 
NOTABLES

• Mara Neira recorded a new season-high of 19 points after shooting 7-of-15 from the field and 5-of-9 from three.
• The team recorded 10 steals, which led to 14 points on fast breaks, and 19 turnover points.
• Five players recorded three offensive rebounds, giving the team 18 total.

UP NEXT
The Blue Hose take on the Queens Royals in another road match on Wednesday, November 6 at 7:00 p.m.