Tuesday, November 20, 2001
PRESBYTERIAN
UPSETS #18 FRANCIS MARION 70-69 IN OVERTIME
PC’s Leopard and Werner set career-highs in victory over
Patriots
CLINTON, SC — Presbyterian
College’s Toni
Leopard (Ninety-Six, SC) and Bonnie
Werner (Kennesaw, GA) combined for 57 points to lead
the Blue Hose to a 70-69 upset win over #18 Francis Marion
University Tuesday night in women’s basketball action.
Leopard
and Werner each posted career-highs on the night in the win.
Leopard tied her career-high with 31 points on 10-of-14
shooting from the field while Werner a new career-high with 26
points on eight-of-14 shooting. The Blue Hose duo combined for
57 of PC’s 70 points on the night.
The win
extended PC’s regular season home win streak to 31 straight
games dating back to the 1998-99 season.
In the
overtime period, the lead changed hands six times and the
Patriots led 69-68 with :28 second remaining. After a Blue
Hose timeout, PC’s senior center Merritt
Misner (Decatur, GA) hit a pair of free throws with
:12 second left to give PC the final lead at 70-69. Francis
Marion could not get a shot off in the final minutes as PC
held on for the win.
The
first half saw the Blue Hose stake out a 28-23 halftime lead
thanks in part to Leopard’s 10 points and Werner’s nine
points in the first frame. Neither team shot well from the
field as Francis Marion was 40.0% on 10-of-25 shots while PC
hit nine-of-29 shots, good for 31.0%.
The
Blue Hose pushed their lead to double-figures at 44-33 with
12:59 left in the game. The Patriots fought back with a 15-4
run in the next six minutes to tie the game at 51-51 on a
layup by junior center Jontell
Johnson (Charleston, SC). Senior guard Christy
Thomas (Maryville, TN) gave the Patriots their first lead
of the second half on a jumper at the 3:34 mark (53-51).
PC
retook the lead on a pair of consecutive three-pointers by
Leopard and Werner at 57-53 with 2:39 left. Thomas scored five
straight points to give Francis Marion to lead at 58-57 with
1:24 left. Leopard came through with a three-pointer, but
Patriot’s sophomore guard Anne
Gioscia (Jefferson City, TN) tie a pair of free throws
with :25 seconds left to tie the game at 60-60. Senior guard Nicole
Chittam’s (Lancaster, SC) three-pointer with :01
second left was off the mark and forced overtime.
Leopard
and Werner combined to shoot 12-for-12 at the charity stripe
as PC shot 89.5% at the line on the night.
Francis
Marion was led by Johnson who tallied a double-double with 16
points and 16 rebounds as the Patriots dominated the boards
50-31. Joining Johnson was Thomas who scored a team-high 19
points and Gioscia added 13 points.
PC improves to 3-0 on the
season while #18 Francis Marion drops to 2-1.