Demorest, GA - The Piedmont College women's basketball team led nearly all the way in today's 62-57 win over visiting LaGrange College though the Panthers would push the issue up until the final buzzer in the USA South contest.

Neither team started out hot offensively as the two combined for just one field goal in the first four minutes of the game, a BRIANNA BARRETT 3-pointer at the 17:25 mark.  Barrett finished the afternoon with 13 points, the 5th time the point guard has finished with 13 or more in a game though the remainder of her stat line was even more impressive. 

Barrett also racked up five rebounds, four assists, and five steals as the Lady Lions turned up the heat defensively forcing LaGrange into 26 turnovers on the day.  The turnover total is tied for the 2nd-most by a Piedmont opponent in the 2014-15 season as the Panthers own the top spot in that ranking giving it away 28 times in the two's previous meeting back on February 4.

After the slow start, LaGrange exploded for a 9-0 run to take their first lead of the game following the Barrett three in the early going.  However, PC was able to keep LaGrange quiet from that point on in the opening half as the Lady Lions led 34-23 at the break courtesy of a balanced attack with six Lady Lions on the scoring sheet in the first 20 minutes.

Following the intermission, Piedmont opened up a 14-point lead right away on another Barrett tri-fecta while teammate MARY KATE RUSHTON followed it up with a three of her own on the Lady Lions' next possession for PC to go up 17, 40-23.  LaGrange chipped away to bring the lead back down to single digits with a Lauren Johnson lay-in on the break making it 42-33 PC with just about 15 remaining. 

Each time PC tried to pull away, the Panthers made a run to get back in it sticking around until the final minutes as LaGrange cut the lead to just five points following a Piedmont turnover as the Panthers' Morgan McDonald connected from distance to make it 57-52 with 2:42 to play.

A CARLIE SHIELDS jumper on the next possession was answered by LaGrange the next time down the floor as the Panthers still trailed by just five with the minutes turning to seconds on the scoreboard in Cave Arena.  The Lady Lions had Barrett on the free throw line following an offensive rebound as the sophomore hit both tries with 23 seconds left to make it a 7-point advantage once more. 

With desperation sinking in for the visitors, Piedmont was able to come up with another big defensive play as JULIANNE BAYER pulled down a rebound following a missed LaGrange layup with Bayer hitting on one of two from the line to ice the win at home.  

Piedmont turned in one of its best defensive performances all season earlier today as the Panthers committed three shot-clock violations in the first half alone.  LC shot 21% from distance as Piedmont allowed only a trio of three-pointers on the afternoon to the Panthers, tied for the 2nd-best such performance by the Piedmont defense this season. 

Two other Lady Lions were in double figures along with Barrett as JULIANNE BAYER led all scorers with her 15 hitting on an incredible 7-of-10 shots from the field.  Bayer also grabbed ten boards for the double-double performance, her 4th double-double of the season as the sophomore is averaging 9.4 points per game and just over seven rebounds per contest. 

Also in double figures was CARLY SALES who had ten points, four of which came at the free throw line where PC shot better than 68% as a team. 

Now sitting in a 2-way tie for 2nd place in the South Division of the USA South, the race is on for postseason positioning as the win today over LaGrange secures Piedmont a spot in the league's championship tournament.  PC can finish no worse than 3rd in the Division as 4th place Huntingdon trails by 3.5 games with only three games left on the schedule for the Hawks.

Piedmont hosts the Hawks of Huntingdon tomorrow afternoon with a 1:00 pm tip off in Cave Arena as the Lady Lions shoot for their 11th conference victory this season.  Piedmont won 11 conference contests a year ago as well going 11-5 overall.

Live video coverage will be available on the Mane Event Broadcasting Network with live audio available as well on WCON Radio.