HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Presbyterian College Blue Hose women's basketball team (18-14) took down the Charleston Southern Buccaneers (11-19) in the quarterfinals of the Big South Tournament with a final score of 54-51 after a close final minute of play.
 
COACH SHARP'S THOUGHTS
"I thought the kids came out ready to play, it's an interesting situation playing a team on Saturday and then coming out and playing the very same team here. Saturday's game wasn't our best, but the kids were really committed to responding. I also want to give Paige Kindseth a shout out. She played really hard in the first few minutes and it reminded me of her freshman year where she had 24 points in the first round of the tournament."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter – The Buccaneers took the first two points of the day before Paige Kindseth hit a three-point shot to put the Blue Hose on the board. After some back and forth we saw the first media timeout of the game with CSU ahead 10-7. Charleston Southern put two more points on the board before Presbyterian went on a six-point run led by four from Tilda Sjökvist. CSU scored another bucket which ended the first quarter with PC trailing 14-13.
 
Second Quarter – The Blue Hose scored six of the next eight points to start off the second quarter giving them a 19-16 lead with 5:19 left in the first half. The Buccaneers scored five more points to regain their lead with a score of 21-19. Sjökvist answered with five-points of her own before Christina Kline hit a three-pointer to put PC ahead by six points. The Buccaneers were able to score another basket, but the Blue Hose closed out the first half with a 27-23 lead.
 
Third Quarter – The third quarter started out even with both teams scoring seven points apiece. Bryanna Brady put two more on the board for PC before a three pointer from the other side. Kline hit another three-pointer to give Presby a six-point lead with a score of 39-33. CSU scored six of the next eight-points which cut PC's lead down to two with a score of 41-39. The Blue Hose went on a five-point run to end the third quarter behind a three from Sjökvist. Presbyterian headed to the final quarter of play with a 46-39 lead.
 
Fourth Quarter – Charleston Southern took the first seven points of the fourth quarter to tie up the game at 46 points apiece with eight minutes on the clock. The Blue Hose answered, scoring the next four points before a pair of free throws from the other side made it a two-point game. With 3:17 left to play, Sjökvist made a two-point jumper before Kline drew a charge. After a scoreless two minutes, Sonia Sato made a layup to give the Blue Hose a six-point lead with 1:05 left on the clock. CSU picked up another two points with 34.3 seconds to go, but PC held a four-point lead with a score of 54-50. The Buccaneers made a free throw with 20 seconds on the board to make it a three-point game, but it wasn't enough to stop the Blue Hose from securing a spot in the semifinals with a 54-51 victory.
 
NOTABLES
- PC moves on to the semifinals for the first time since 2017 and for the third time in Division I history.
- Tilda Sjökvist totaled 18 points, three assists, and two steals.
- Christina Kline put up 10 points, three assists, and five rebounds.
- Paige Kindseth tallied nine points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
 
UP NEXT
The Blue Hose will take on the High Point Panthers in the semifinals of the Big South Conference Tournament on Saturday, March 9 at 6:00 p.m.