CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College Blue Hose women's basketball team (12-9, BSC: 3-3) beat the Longwood Lancers (4-14, BSC: 2-4) after a close final minute of play with a score of 69-66.
 
COACH SHARP'S THOUGHTS
"We needed this win. I think our kids felt like this was a must win. We needed a win at home and it gave us a confident boost. I'm so proud of Tilda for being so motivated to take care of the ball, and of Natalie Herrin for really stepping up and playing so confidently today."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter – Bryanna Brady won the opening tip and then took the first two points of the game for the Blue Hose. Tilda Sjökvist then scored the first three-point bucket of the game. Longwood was able to take the next four points before Mara Neira hit a deep three-pointer. Brady took another basket to give PC a 10-4 lead. Christina Kline scored her first two-points of the game just before the first media timeout. Longwood got their score up to 9, but Natalie Herrin hit a three-point shot to hold a six-point lead with a score of 15-9. The Lancers scored the next seven points to take the lead before the end of the first quarter with a score of 16-15.  
 
Second Quarter – Sjökvist started off the second quarter with a three-point bucket and not long after Neira did the same. The Blue Hose reclaimed the lead with a score of 21-18 with eight minutes left to play before halftime. The Lancers cut it back to one-point, but Brady answered with a layup. Longwood tied it up with a three-point play, before some back and forth from both sides. Kline and Neira both made another three-pointer for PC to give them a four-point lead and a score of 31-27. Longwood tied up the game once again with 2:07 left before the end of the half. Sjökvist gave PC back the lead with a layup followed by a second chance layup from Sonia Sato. With under a minute to play, Herrin took another three-pointer to give the team a five-point lead. Herrin drew a foul just before the end of play and made both foul shots to give Presbyterian a seven-point lead to end the first half with a score of 40-33.
 
Third Quarter – The second half started off even with both teams scoring three-points apiece. A jumper from Herrin and a three-pointer from Sjökvist increased PC's lead to 11 points with a score of 48-37. The Lancers answered with a three-pointer, but the Blue and Scarlet held an eight-point lead with five minutes left to play in the third quarter. Longwood took the next four-points, but Sjökvist answered with her fourth three-pointer of the game. Throughout the last minute and a half left of play, PC outscored the Lancers 5-4 to head to the final quarter leading 56-48.
 
Fourth Quarter – Longwood scored six of the first nine points to bring PC's lead down to five points with a score of 59-54. After some back and forth, Longwood scored four unanswered points to cut Presbyterian's lead down to just one point with four minutes left on the clock and a score of 63-62. Neira made a driving layup before Longwood made a free throw. Both teams took two more points to keep PC's lead at two-points with a score of 67-65 with 54.6 seconds left to play. The Lancers were able to get one point away with a foul shot, but Brady would go on to sink two of her own and take victory for the Blue Hose with a final score of 69-66.
 
NOTABLES

• Sjokvist with 20 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, while shooting 8-of-16 from the field.
• Herrin totaled a career-high of 14 points and 3 assists.
• Neira added 14 points and 6 rebounds.
• Brady recorded 14 points, 5 assists, and 6 rebounds.
• The Blue Hose recorded 18 assists as a team.

 
 
UP NEXT
The Blue Hose have a break on Wednesday before traveling to Radford, VA for a 2:00 p.m. opening tip on January 27 against the Radford Highlanders.