Second Half Rally Comes Up Short As Women's Basketball Falls In Conference Opener At Presbyterian
December 03, 2014 | Women's Basketball
CLINTON, S.C.- Jessica Heilig scored 11 points and Kiera Currie totaled 11 points and 7 rebounds but the Gardner-Webb University women's basketball team (3-4, 0-1 BSC) fell 55-50 to Presbyterian College (4-3, 1-0 BSC) in its Big South Conference opener on Tuesday evening at the Templeton Center.
Janie Miles paced the Blue Hose attack on the evening scoring 11 points and went 3-4 from the free-throw line. The Blue Hose were efficient in in the victory shooting 44.4% from the floor and 38.5% from beyond the three-point arc.
PC got off to a fast start outscoring the Runnin' Bulldogs 13-2 in the opening eight minutes of play, limiting Gardner-Webb to just two points, both of which were scored on two free-throws by Brown and Heilig.
The Runnin' Bulldogs had a tough time penetrating the Blue Hose zone defense in the first half, shooting just 25.0%, and would remain without a field goal until Olivia Parker hit a three-pointer with 10:44 in the period.
Presbyterian held the lead for the remainder of the first half, limiting GWU to a season-low 19 points in the opening half and would go into the halftime break leading by 35-29.
Trailing by as much as 11 in the second half, Gardner-Webb fought back to tie the game twice during the second half.
With 1:23 remaining in the game and leading 53-42, the Blue Hose looked to be in control, but a layup by Alexus Hill and a three-pointer by Mayhana Dunovt trimmed the lead to just six with 21 seconds remaining.
After a PC timeout, Gardner-Webb fouled on the inbounds pass, sending Rebecca Walker to the free-throw line for a one-and one. Walker missed her free throw and Alexus Hill connected on a long-range jumper to cut the deficit to just three with 12 seconds left.
The Runnin' Bulldogs fouled once again sending Miles to the free-throw line where she missed the first free-throw but made the second attempt to push the PC lead back up to four, 54-50 with 11 seconds left. GWU called its last timeout, and coming out of the timeout Parker put a three-point attempt from the top of the key, which was no good and Rebecca Walker for the Blue Hose managed to snag the rebound to seal the victory for Presbyterian.
The Runnin' Bulldogs return to action on Friday when they travel to Greensboro, N.C. to face the UNC Greensboro Spartans. Tipoff for Friday's matchup is set for 7:00 p.m.
