Saturday, December 17, 2005
PRESBYTERIAN SLIPS PAST LIVINGSTONE 71-61
CLINTON, S.C. – Presbyterian College senior forward Rebecca Wessinger (Laurens, S.C.) tallied a game-high 16 points to go along with seven boards to lead the Lady Blue Hose to a 71-61 victory over the Livingstone College Lady Blue Bears in women’s college basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Ross E. Templeton Center.
After a slow start to open the game, the Lady Blue Hose jumped out a six-point lead at 14-8 on a three-pointer by senior forward Wesley Campbell (Greenville, S.C.) at the 9:37 mark. Livingstone would cut the lead to four points on two occasions in the last three minutes before PC ended the first half on an 8-2 run highlighted by a pair of layups from senior center Cameron Cook (Greensboro, N.C.) to give the Lady Blue Hose a 31-21 advantage at intermission.
PC shot 45.5% from the floor in the first half and were led by Wessinger’s nine points and freshman center Sharie Hopkins (Chesapeake, Va.), who off came off the bench to add eight points. Livingstone was led in scoring by junior forward Kim Westray (Norfolk, Va.) who tallied eight points and five boards as the Lady Blue Bears struggled in the first half to shoot 25.7% from the field.
In the second half, PC increased the lead to as many as 19 points on two occasions, with the last coming at 53-34 on a layup by Hopkins at the 10:39 mark. The Lady Blue Bears fought back behind full-court pressure and put together a 22-11 run over the next eight minutes to trim the lead to 64-58 at the 2:57 mark on a three-pointer by Westray.
The Lady Blue Hose who did not score a field goal in the last four minutes, but sealed the victory on the charity stripe by hitting six straight free throws in the final :37 seconds. PC had to overcome 26 turnovers on the day and cold shooting from the free throw line (63.4%) to reach the victory.
PC’s Wessinger led all scorers with 16 points and six boards on the day while Hopkins came off the bench to tally a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman forward Morgan Johnson (Marietta, Ga.) added 10 points and seven rebounds as the Lady Blue Hose won the battle of the boards 50-42.
Junior forward Kimone Johns (Bronx, NY) and sophomore guard Jennifer Miller (Pontiac, MI) each tallied 15 points apiece for Livingstone, while Westray added 11 points, seven boards, and four steals. Miller also tallied a game-high seven steals.
Presbyterian improves to 9-1 on the season with the victory while Livingstone falls back to 4-4 overall.