Demorest, GA – The Piedmont College women’s basketball team had to hold off a rallying William Peace University squad in the second half to take a 63-56 win at home Saturday in USA South action.
Piedmont (10-1) stayed unbeaten in league play at now 4-0 with the win while William Peace fell to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in league play with the result. The Lady Lions were led by DAKOTA SULLENS’ 12 points, 12 rebounds as the freshman from Dahlonega, Georgia posted her first collegiate career double-double with the performance.
Sullens came up just one rebound shy of a double-double in a December 7 win over Salem on the road. The youngster is now averaging 6.4 points per contest and just over four rebounds per game in her debut season under Head Coach Jamie Purdy.
Rising star BRIANNA BARRETT turned in 14 rebounds to lead the team in that category also posting a team-high seven assists to go with eight points. Barrett’s 14 boards is a new career high and the second time in the last three games she has posted double-digit rebounds as the sophomore had not done so in her career up until a 10-rebound performance at Meredith this season.
LE’SHAUNDA JONES was the points leader on the night with 13, ten of which came before 12 minutes ticked off the clock as Piedmont raced out to a 21-12 lead at the midway point of the first half. William Peace would close the lead down to just two (27-25) with 4:41 left in the first, but a layup from Jones sparked a 10-0 run by PC to close out the first half as the Lady Lions led 37-25 at the break.
Despite the positive feeling from the first half, the second half would not be pretty for the home team as PC was outscored in the second period 31-26, but a 12-point lead at the break helped Piedmont stay in front for the remainder despite the strong push from the visitors.
Piedmont was held to just 22% shooting in the second half helping William Peace to get back in the game, but neither team performed particularly well in the final 20 minutes as the two combined for a scoreless stretch of better than five minutes until a 3-pointer from the Pacers’ Dejah Cheathem broke the ice and cut the Piedmont lead down to 11 with 9:48 to play.
Another three from Cheathem would bring the home team lead down to single digits after a miss early in the shot clock for PC as the home team would not lead by double digits again until the 4:44 mark. With two minutes to go, it was a five-point game following a pair of free throws by the Pacers.
However, four straight points coming at the charity stripe for PC helped the Lady Lions salt away the league win with Piedmont holding on for the seven-point decision, 63-56, over the visitors.
Sullens and Jones were the only two Lady Lions in double-figures on the night with Jones shooting 5-of-11 from the field while Sullens hit on five of her seven tries to lead the team in shooting on the evening. The 31.9% shooting from the field as a team is the worst such mark for Piedmont this season as the Lady Lions were held nearly 20 points below their scoring average this season.
With the win, Piedmont improves to 10-1 overall and is now 4-0 in USA South action. The Lady Lions will stay at home for the next three games with tonight’s matchup the first of four in Cave Arena for the Lady Lions over a nine-day period.
Piedmont’s next matchup will be an out-of-conference test against an old league foe in the Scotties of Agnes Scott College who come to Demorest for a Tuesday night matchup on January 13. Tipoff in the contest is set for 6:00 pm, and coverage will be on the Mane Event Broadcasting Network with live video and live stats as well as audio provided by WCON radio.
