CLINTON, S.C. - The Presbyterian College women's basketball team (9-12, 3-7) look to earn their second straight Big South Conference road win on Saturday afternoon when the team travels to Asheville, N.C., to take on the UNC Asheville Bulldogs (7-15, 3-8) at 2 p.m. PC will aim for their fourth straight win over the Bulldogs by building on momentum from a 63-60 win against Winthrop last Saturday. The contest in Asheville marks the second of a three-game road swing for the Blue Hose.
PC has taken the last three meetings against UNC Asheville but trails in the all-time series, 4-7. Four Blue Hose scored in double figures in the last meeting on January 16, let by Mariah Pietrowski's 16 points. All four of PC's wins in the all-time series have come in the last five meetings, with Asheville's last win (66-59) coming on February 13, 2010 in Asheville. Two Blue Hose, Karlee Taylor (A.C. Reynolds) and Chelsea Parker (Asheville School) attended high school in Asheville.
UNC Asheville has dropped four straight games and six of its last seven, with a win coming against Gardner-Webb (74-62) on January 21 at home. The Bulldogs rank 10th in scoring defense, allowing 74.5 points per Big South game, but feature three players who score in double-figures in Shonese Jones (15.3 points per game), Lindsey Thompson (10.8) and Leah Wormack (10.6).
PC overcame a 10-point second-half deficit against Winthrop on Saturday, thanks to 20 points from Mariah Pietrowski and a career-high 19 points from Kristen Stevens to earn its first Big South Conference road win of the season, 63-60. Stevens hit set a new high water mark with five three pointers and Pietrowski scored 17 of her 20 points in the second half to help the Blue Hose to the win.
PC is in the final year of its transition to Division I and is not eligible for listing in the national statistics, but the squad's 55.3 overall scoring defense would rank 34th in the nation.
Dria David's six points against Winthrop on Saturday gave the junior 599 for her career, passing Katlin Moore for third place on the Division I scoring list. She now stands 123 from Amanda Mills' 722 in second place.
PC has won nine games this season, equaling the highest Division I win total for a single Blue Hose season. PC went 9-20 last season, 5-25 in 2009-10, 4-25 in 2008-09 and 2-24 in 2007-08.
Over the last five games, Mariah Pietrowski leads the team in scoring, averaging 9.8 points per game. Karlee Taylor ranks second with 9.0 points per contest while Sherece Smith leads the team on the boards, posting a rebounding average of 5.2 per game over the last five.
The Blue Hose wrap up their three-game road swing with a trip to Gardner-Webb on Monday night. The squad then returns home for games against Radford on February 18 and Liberty on February 20.
