Friday, November 26, 2004
LADY BLUE HOSE FALL IN LADY BEARCAT CLASSIC
Greenwood, S.C. - Lucia Heston scored a game-high 19 points and keyed a 9-0 second-half run, leading Columbus State to an 83-74 victory over Presbyterian College in the first round of the Lady Bearcat Classic Friday at Horne Arena.
With Columbus State (3-2) holding a slim 56-54 lead, Heston hit a three-pointer at the 12:18 mark to spark the 9-0 run. Crystal Smith and Erin Gibbs scored, then Heston completed the run with a fast-break layup that made it 65-54 with 11 minutes left.
Gibbs added 17 points for the Cougars, Tabasha Taylor scored 15 points, Angelica Graham had 10 points, and Noelle Griffin had eight assists and eight steals.
Rebecca Wessinger (Laurens, S.C.) led PC (1-4) with 18 points, making 8-of-12 free throws. Amy Jones (Warthen, Ga.) was 5-for-5 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the line for 15 points. Anna Sheppard (Norcross, Ga.) added 10 points.
Heston hit a three-pointer with 6:46 left to give Columbus State its biggest lead of the game at 77-62.
The Lady Blue Hose closed the first half with a 38-22 run, erasing a 20-4 deficit to tie it at 42 at halftime. Beth Neely’s (Laurens, S.C.) three-pointer pulled PC within 39-38, then Cameron Cook’s (Greensboro, N.C.) basket gave the Lady Blue Hose their first lead at 40-39 and capped a 12-0 PC run.
Columbus State regained the lead at 42-40 on Erin Holder’s three-pointer. PC’s Jones drove the lane for a game-tying layup with seven seconds left in the half.
Jones led the Lady Blue Hose with nine points in the first half while Heston and Taylor had nine points apiece for Columbus State. Both teams had trouble protecting the ball in the first half as PC had 15 turnovers against Columbus’s full-court press while the Cougars had 13 turnovers.
The Lady Blue Hose continued to have turnover problems in the second half, finishing the game with 29. Columbus had only five second-half turnovers to finish with 18.
Columbus shot 41 percent from the floor (30-of-74), 94 percent from the free throw line (15-of-16), and 33 percent from behind the 3-point line (8-of-24). PC shot 52 percent from the floor (25-of-48), 69 percent from the line (18-of-26), and 40 percent from three-point range (6-of-15).
Columbus out rebounded PC 37-35 with Gibbs grabbing a game-high seven boards. Wessinger led the Lady Blue Hose with six rebounds.