Demorest, GA – The Piedmont College women’s basketball team held on for an 87-80 win over visiting Greensboro College earlier tonight with inspired play from more than one Lady Lion as the Green and Gold (12-1 overall) are still undefeated in USA South play (5-0).
The 12-1 record is now tied for the best 13-game start by the Lady Lions in the NCAA Era along with the 2011-12 team who won the first 12 games of the season before falling in the 13th. Piedmont is riding a 7-game winning streak with an average margin of victory better than 15 points during this current stretch.
MARY KATE RUSHTON led all scorers with her 20 points hitting on five of nine tries from distance, 9-of-17 overall. For Rushton, the 20-point performance is the third time this season the junior has scored at least that many.
Turning in a double-double was JULIANNE BAYER who had 17 points and 11 boards, six rebounds in the first half alone. Bayer was a perfect 6-for-6 in the first half with many of her buckets helping to keep the Pride at bay as Piedmont led by 18 at the half.
LE’SHAUNDA JONES was the third and final Lady Lion in double figures with her 17 points, ten of those coming at the charity stripe.
The Lady Lions held a ten-point (28-18) lead at the midway point of a first half dominated by the Green and Gold who scored 50-plus in a half for the second straight time after dropping 56 against the Scotties of Agnes Scott in the second half of a win in Cave Arena Tuesday night.
The post presence of Greensboro’s Tiffani Stephens looked like it may changed the flow of the opening period as the 6’4 center for the Pride rejected a CARLY SALES layup and forced Piedmont to think about each drive into the lane. However, well aware of the shot-blocking ability of Stephens, Piedmont lit up the scoreboard from distance to combat the move connecting on eight three point field goals in the first half to open up nearly a 20-point lead at the break, 54-36.
Piedmont shot just under 40% for the contest, but free throw troubles did plague the Lady Lions again as they hit on less than half of their 39 tries at the line, a factor that allowed Greensboro to stay in the contest in the second half. The Pride used a 10-3 run over the first five minutes of the 2nd half to cut the lead to 11 (57-46) though a Rushton 3-pointer helped slow the visitors at the 14:28 mark.
Moments later, a CARLY SALES layup pushed the lead back up to 16 as the Lady Lions fought to keep the advantage in double digits. However, with Stephens checking back in at the midway point and another monstrous block by the Greensboro post player, the Pride started to dig in to make another run cutting the lead down to nine on a layup from none other than Stephens with nine to play.
Another Stephens lay-in and a three from Alexis Hite trimmed the margin down to four with 7:17 remaining, the closest the visitors had been to PC since 11:51 remained in the first. The two remained close for the next few minutes with the two trading baskets until another Greensboro three cut the lead to one at 72-71 and just under six to go.
With the lead hanging in the balance, Piedmont was able to stay in front using the energy of a raucous Cave Crazies section with the Lady Lions picking up the effort on the defensive end to shut down the Pride. Greensboro was held to just two points over the next three minutes by the Piedmont defense while the Lady Lions cranked out ten of their own, capped by a fast break lay-up from BRIANNA BARRETT.
Back up by seven with just under two minutes remaining, Piedmont again clamped down defensively with LE’SHAUNDA JONES giving the Pride a taste of its own medicine as she rejected a Greensboro shot on a key possession to give her team the ball back and help the Lady Lions hold on for yet another USA South win.
Piedmont is now 17-5 in their last 22 USA South games dating back to its debut season in the league in 2012-13. The win also moves PC to 12-1 overall and the Lady Lions are 5-0 in conference play, good enough for 1st place in the South Division of the USA South.
Piedmont will not have long to rest as the Lady Lions play host to USA South member Methodist University on Sunday afternoon for a 3:00 pm game in Cave Arena. Coverage can be found with live video and live stats on the Mane Event Broadcasting Network. WCON Radio will not air the game on its FM or AM frequencies due to previously scheduled programming, but online audio will be still be available with links found at Piedmont Lions.com.
