Friday,
November 16, 2001
BLUE HOSE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ADVANCES TO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
PC
comes back from double-figure deficit in second half to post
win
CLINTON,
SC — Presbyterian College women’s basketball team
advanced to the championship game of the 2001 AASU/Chatham
Orthopedics Tip-Off Classic with a 65-50 win over Ferris
State University tonight.
The Blue Hose (1-0) fought
off a cold shooting first half and a double-figure deficit to
open the second half to advance to the championship game.
Presbyterian found
themselves down 31-28 at the break after struggling from the
field to shoot 36.0% on nine-of-25 shooting. Senior wing Toni Leopard (Ninety-Six, SC) led the
way in the first half with nine points. The Bulldogs hit
14-of-30 shoots for 46.7% first half and were led by forwards Stephanie
Benear and Bridget
Horwitz who each scored 10 points apiece.
Ferris State (0-1) took
command to open a 11-point lead (39-28) at the 17:05 mark on a
8-0 run. The Bulldogs held the lead and even led 45-34
with 11:56 remaining. The Blue Hose fought back and
went on a 14-4 run in the next five minutes to cut the lead to
49-48 with 7:44 remaining. Leopard tied the game at 55-55 on a
free throw with 4:45 left. Sophomore guard Billie Haskins (Greensboro, GA)
gave PC their first lead of the second half on a jumper at the
3:54 mark. PC never looked back and pushed the lead to
six-points (63-57) with :33 seconds left in the game. The Blue
Hose hit four-of-six free throws in the last :30 seconds to
seal the win.
The Blue Hose shot 63.2%
from the field in the second half, and finished with a 47.7%
field goal percentage for the game.
Leopard led the Blue Hose
with 21 points and six rebounds. Haskins and fellow sophomore
backcourt mate, Bonnie
Werner (Kennesaw, GA) each scored 11 points while
freshman forward Dana
Birnie (Suwanee, GA) came off the
bench to score 10 points and add four rebounds and four
steals. Redshirt freshman Lauren
Yanik (Greer, SC) came off the bench to lead
the team with seven rebounds.
Ferris State was led by
Horwitz who tallied 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds
while Benear added 10 points. Guard Debbie
Killips rounded out the double-figure scorers for the
Bulldogs with 14 points.
Presbyterian advances to
the championship game tomorrow night at 7:30 pm where they
will take on the winner of host Armstrong Atlantic State
University/Fayetteville State University winner.