NEED TO KNOW:
Score: Piedmont 93, Sewanee 72
Records: Piedmont, 1-1; Sewanee, 1-1
DEMOREST, Ga. - Piedmont women's basketball picked up its first win of the season on Saturday, cruising to a 93-72 victory against Sewanee inside Cave Arena.
Despite a slow offensive start, the Lions saw their offense come to life with a dominant second quarter that set the tone for a comfortable margin throughout the rest of the contest.
Ava Hunter came off the bench and helped turn the game toward Piedmont, scoring 21 of her 23 points in the first half.
Riley Bryan also delivered a standout performance, with a career-high 20 points on 10-of-19 shooting and doing most of her damage from the mid range.
Alexandria Willis and
Kylie Watkins provided more frontcourt scoring for Piedmont, each scoring 10 points while
Gracie Deetz led the team with seven rebounds.
While the Lions were held off the scoreboard for the first three minutes of game action, they took a 7-6 lead with 5:08 to play in the opening quarter and never looked back, leading the rest of the way.
The first double digit lead for Piedmont came with 7:31 remaining in the second quarter and a furious run followed, with a 41-22 advantage with 1:20 remaining in the first half. However, the Lions were not finished with the second quarter run, scoring five points in the final 38 seconds of the first half to take a 49-27 lead to the break.
After the team's dramatic win at the buzzer last season at Sewanee, this season the Lions left no doubt in the second half, leading by as many as 25 points and holding a double digit lead the entirety of the half.
Up next, the Lions will close out the CCS / SAA Classic, taking on Berry tomorrow at 3 p.m. inside Cave Arena. The Vikings took down LaGrange this afternoon by a 55-44 margin.
TURNING POINT:
- Piedmont used a 30-point second quarter to flip the game in its favor and never look back.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
- Bryan is now averaging 17.0 points per game through the first two contests of the season, scoring a career-high 20 points on 10-of-19 shooting Saturday.
- Hunter scored 23 points off the bench, including 21 in the first half to help the Lions extend their lead in the second quarter.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Piedmont forced 31 Sewanee turnovers.
NEWS AND NOTES:
- The win marked No. 399 in the head coaching career of
Jamie Purdy.
HOW TO FOLLOW:
- To stay up to date on all information regarding Piedmont University Athletics, be sure to visit PiedmontLions.com and connect with the Green and Gold on social media. Follow the Lions on
X @PiedmontLions,
Instagram: @PiedmontLions, and
Facebook.
