Gaffney, SC – The Erskine women’s basketball team continued their late season charge by upsetting Limestone College 56 to 51 in Conference Carolinas women’s basketball action at the Timkin Center. Erskine evened their record at 12-12 overall and 10-8 in conference and extended their win-streak to four games. Limestone slips to 16-8 overall and 12-6 in conference. Limestone had won their previous eight games with their last loss remarkably coming at the hands of the Fleet back in January.
Both teams struggled early in the game. Erskine senior Jean Marie Harris (Lancaster, SC, Indian Land High School) put back an Erskine miss at the 12:01 mark to tie the game at 8-8. Over the next two minutes Limestone went on an 8-0 run capped by a steal and layup by Stephanie Hayes. By halftime Erskine trimmed the Limestone lead to five at 29-24.
After a Limestone free throw in the opening minute, the Fleet quickly cut the Limestone lead to one point on a 3-point basket by Harris and a layup by freshman Jana Dixon (Conyers, GA, Heritage High School). Limestone’s Tia Williams hit back-to-back 3-point buckets to push the Saint lead back to six points. Limestone maintained their small lead until the final five minutes when Erskine’s Christine Phan (Savannah, GA, Windsor Forest High School) hit a 3-point basket to give the Fleet their first lead since the opening minutes of the game. The next two minutes featured three lead changes and one tie and Limestone clinging to a one point lead at 51-50. With 40 seconds left, Phan hit her third 3-point basket of the game to give the Fleet a two point lead at 53-51. Following a timeout, Limestone’s Stephanie Hayes missed a three-point shot forcing the Saints to foul. Erskine’s Lauren Stewart (Hartwell, GA, Hart County High School) hit one of two free throws but recovered her own miss. Fouled again, Stewart converted both free throws to seal the win for the Fleet at 56-51.
Jean Marie Harris led all scorers with 20 points while teammate Porsha Morgan (Columbus, GA, LaGrange Academy) added 15 points. Elizabeth Tatum (Glennville, GA, Pinewood Christian Academy) and Lauren Stewart helped the Fleet to slight rebounding advantage (50-46) by pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds each.
Limestone had three players reach double-digits in scoring led by Kaileigh West’s 11 points. Maria Young contributed 10 points while Stephanie Hayes earned a famed “double-double” with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She also had a game-high 5 assists.
Erskine has two games remaining. Erskine hosts Coker this Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and travels to Pfeiffer University on Saturday. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m.
Box Score
