RICHMOND, Ky. – The Presbyterian College women's basketball
team made a late push its Eastern Kentucky Comfort Suites Classic
consolation game against Marshall on Saturday, but came up short, 59-51.
PC (4-5, 1-0 Big South) clawed to within two points late in
the contest before Marshall (4-3) pulled away down the stretch. Each team broke off series of unanswered scores in an afternoon of runs.
The Blue Hose take a break for final exams and resume play
on Tuesday, December 11, with an Education Day game against Brevard. Tip-off at
Templeton Center is slated for 11:30 a.m.
Karlee Taylor (Asheville, N.C.) earned All-Tournament
honors, scoring 12 against the Thundering Herd. Dria David (Lawrenceville, Ga.)
led PC with 17 points and three assists.
Marshall's Shay Weaver led all players with 19 points.
The two sides battled to an even first half with Marshall
taking a slight advantage into the locker room at halftime, 25-23.
PC got off to a hot start, leading by seven points after the
first 3:07. The Blue Hose held a lead through much of the first period before
the Thundering Herd scored nine straight points to erase PC's seven-point
advantage midway through the frame. PC held Marshall without a field goal for
more than seven minutes until the Herd kicked off a late run.
Mariah Pietrowski (Elizabethton, Tenn.) hit a pair of free
throws to give PC three points of breathing room late in the half, but Marshall
responded with a 5-0 run to end the half. The teams traded the lead three times
in the opening half, thanks in part to Marshall's three three-pointers. The
Thundering Herd also outrebounded PC by a 5-1 count in the final 3:23.
Shonda Burnside (Gray Court, S.C.) led PC with five points in the first 20 minutes but
saw limited action after picking up three fouls.
PC continued to battle after the break. Taylor, David and
Pietrowski found the basket to keep the Thundering Herd within a point, including
a 33-32 score with 16:13 left. Marshall had an answer, however, going on a 12-4
run to give themselves 11 points of separation.
The Thundering Herd held a 48-36 lead midway through the
frame, but the Blue Hose had an answer of their own. Taylor knocked down a trey
to kickstart a 10-0 PC run that saw four straight points from David and another
Taylor three-pointer.
The run put PC within a basket of Marshall with 5:32 to go,
48-46, but Marshall would hold PC at bay with a nine-point streak en route to
the 59-51 result.
PC shot 41.9 percent (18-for-43) on the day while Marshall
shot at a 47.7 percent clip (21-for-44).
