Box Score Staunton, VA - The Piedmont College women's basketball team had little trouble taking a victory in their USA South opener for the 2013-14 season easing to a 74-40 victory on the road against league member Mary Baldwin College. The Fighting Squirrels saw Piedmont build a 26-point lead before halftime and could only score 17 points in their home gym as the Lady Lions clamped down defensively for the 34-point victory.
The entire Piedmont roster saw action for the most part in this afternoon's road victory as the Lady Lions got off to a hot start shooting just over 42% as a team in the first half. After building a considerable advantage in the opening half, the visitors slowed down offensively in the second though the defense stayed tight as Piedmont held the home team below 22% shooting in the second half not allowing the Fighting Squirrels to connect on a three-pointer in the final 20 minutes (0-4).
Piedmont scored first in the contest on an
Elise Reyes bucket just seven seconds in as the Lady Lions looked to grab the momentum early. Holding a 20-14 lead at the midway point of the first half, PC grabbed the only momentum remaining in the game going on a 24-6 run over the next seven minutes of the game to assume control as freshman
Erin Clifford's layup with 25 seconds to go before halftime gave Piedmont a dominating 49-23 lead at the break.
Coming out of the locker room, Piedmont struggled to find its shooting groove connecting on just one of its 18 three-point field goal tries in the second half. Despite the cold shooting, the Lady Lions needed only to lock down defensively to secure their first USA South win of the season, a job that the visiting team was up to as they held Mary Baldwin to just nine points over the final 11:31 of the game.
Leading the way as the only Lady Lion in double figures on a balanced offensive afternoon was
Mary Kate Rushton who tallied 11 points hitting on five of her 13 field goal tries. Rushton scored one of Piedmont's five three-pointers on a day which saw the Lady Lions struggle from downtown though their three-point shooting would not come into play as the defense of the girls from Demorest held Mary Baldwin to just 40 total points, the second-lowest point total allowed by Piedmont this season behind only a 39-point showing from Toccoa Falls in December.
Julianne Bayer led the team with her eight rebounds on the day, doing so for the first time in this, her freshman year under Piedmont Head Coach
Jamie Purdy. Purdy picks up her first win in a USA South season opener as well after the Lady Lions dropped their league opener in 2012-13 to North Carolina Wesleyan College in Piedmont's first-ever season in the conference.
Senior
Lauren Hamel was second on the rebounding list as her seven tied her with teammate
Charlotte Lewallen. Hamel also had nine points on the day as Piedmont's second-leading scorer while freshman
Erin Clifford was close behind with her eight points, one point shy of a career high for the young Lady Lion in her debut season with the program.
With the win, Piedmont jumps to 7-3 overall and improves their record after a loss this season to a perfect 3-0 having not dropped consecutive decisions yet this 2013-14 season. Today's 74-40 win was a follow-up to Piedmont's tough 73-70 loss at the hands of nationally ranked Emory with the 10th ranked Eagles barely escaping with a win in the Cave on New Year's Eve.
The Lady Lions now turn their attention to a home game with the Avenging Angels of Meredith College coming to town this Sunday, January 5th. Tip off is set for 1:00 pm in Cave Arena and coverage will be provided courtesy of the Mane Event Broadcasting Network as well as WCON radio.
Piedmont defeated the Avenging Angels by 12 in January of 2013 taking a 63-51 decision when the North Carolina-based institution traveled down to Demorest for the first of a two-game season series. However, the Lady Lions fell by six 79-73 when completing the two-game season set in February of 2013 to split with the foe during the 2012-13 season.
