Tuesday,
February 26, 2002
2002 FOOD
LION/SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT • FIRST ROUND
#2 BLUE HOSE CRUISE PAST #7 LADY PIONEERS 83-55
CLINTON,
S.C. — Presbyterian College senior forward Toni Leopard (Ninety-Six, SC) scored a
game-high 24 points with nine rebounds to lead the #2 seeded
Blue Hose to a 83-55 win over #7 seeded Tusculum College in
the first round of the 2002 Food Lion/South Atlantic
Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament Tuesday night.
The game opened with the
teams exchanging the lead for the first few minutes. The score
was tied at 11-11 when PC went on a 10-4 run to pull ahead
21-15 with 8:25 remaining. The Lady Pioneers fought back on a
7-0 run to retake the lead at 22-21 less than a minute later.
The game was tied at 30-30 with :56 remaining before PC’s
senior center Merritt
Misner (Decatur, GA) completed a three-point play to
give the Blue Hose a 34-30 entering halftime. Leopard
dominated the first half with 18 points on seven-of-nine
shooting from the field to go along with eight rebounds. PC
shot 41.9% in the first half while Tusculum shot 40.0%.
The Blue Hose exploded
offensively in the second half, going on 10-0 run to take a
commanding 44-30 lead with 16:30 left in the game. Tusculum
did not hit a field goal in the second half until the 16:14
mark on a jumper by freshman guard Julie Maples (Knoxville, TN). The lead for the Blue Hose expanded to
as many as 28 points twice in the second half with the last
time coming at 83-55 as time expired.
The Blue Hose shot 60.0%
from the field in the second half and hit on 26-of-30 free
throws for the game, good for a 86.7% free throw percentage.
The Lady Pioneers struggled in the second half from the field,
shooting only 31.0%. PC controlled the boards 40-32 and forced
15 turnovers.
PC was led by Leopard’s
24 points while sophomore point guard Bonnie
Werner (Kennesaw, GA) tallied 19 points and seven
assists and sophomore guard Billie
Haskins (Greensboro, GA) added 10 points. Misner came
off the bench for seven points and seven rebounds in 21
minutes of action.
Tusculum was led by junior
center Whitley Campbell
(Oak Ridge, TN) who tallied a game-high 16 points to go
along with six rebounds. Maples and junior forward Candace
Combs (Clayton, NC) each added 12 points.
PC improves to 20-7 on the
season and advances to Friday’s semifinal game against #3
seed Catawba College at the Catawba Valley Community Center at
8:00 pm. Tusculum ends the season at 8-19. The Blue Hose enter
the semifinals having won 10 of their last 11 contests.