Demorest, GA – The Piedmont College women’s basketball team struggled at the free throw line but still overwhelmed the visiting Scotties of Agnes Scott College in a 91-57 thrashing in Cave Arena Tuesday night.
The win marks the second most points in the second half by the Lady Lions this season as they scored 56 total in the final 20 minutes. Piedmont scored 66 in in the second half against Oglethorpe in a 107-76 win in the third game of the year.
Five Lady Lions were in double figures led by JULIANNE BAYER’s 14 total points on six-of-nine shooting from the field. The sophomore hit a pair of three-pointers on the night, just her 5th and 6th tri-fectas of the season.
Bayer was also the leading rebounder on the night with eight with DAKOTA SULLENS and BRIANNA BARRETT close behind with six boards a piece. Barrett also scored 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting while LE’SHAUNDA JONES also had 13 on the night hitting on five of her eight tries from the field.
In the first half, the story was the team’s troubles at the free throw line which prohibited PC from holding a larger advantage at the half as Piedmont led by just nine at the break. The Lady Lions were 6-for-14 at the charity stripe in the first half missing on the front end of a 1-and-1 twice in the closing minutes of the opening period to allow Agnes Scott to hang around.
Despite the trouble at the line which continued into the second half, the defensive energy by the Lady Lions excited the crowd and forced 25 Agnes Scott turnovers on the night as Piedmont tallied 27 points off those takeaways, seven points shy of the final margin in the contest.
The 25 turnovers by an opponent was one shy of the season-high forced by PC who has twice forced 26 turnovers by an opponent, first in a home win over Mary Baldwin on November 23 and again in a win on the road at Meredith on January 2.
Piedmont never trailed in the second half rolling to a 16-6 run out of the locker room after the intermission, a run sparked by eight straight points from MARY KATE RUSHTON including back-to-back strikes from distance. A TAYLOR SWOSZOWSKI layup near the midway point helped the lead crest the 20-point barrier for the first time on the evening.
The Lady Lions held Agnes Scott to just 11 field goals in the second half as the Scotties did not connect on any of their four three-point tries either. With Piedmont up by 24 and just over five minutes to go, the Scotties would score only eight points down the stretch while PC continued to do damage with BRIDGETTE KELLY, LAUREN ZOLLINGER, and CARLIE SHIELDS combining to score the team’s final ten points en route to the 91-57 win at home.
With the win, Piedmont improves to 11-1, the best 12-game start for the Lady Lions since they won their first dozen in the 2011-12 season. PC is now 4-1 against teams from the state of Georgia as well with the only loss coming to Berry College, a team that Piedmont defeated 17 days earlier in the season.
Next up for Piedmont is another home contest as the Lady Lions host the Pride of Greensboro College on Friday, January 16 in Cave Arena. Tip off is set for 7:30 pm and live coverage will be provided via the Mane Event Broadcasting Network and WCON Radio. Admission to the regular season contest is free.
