HIGH POINT, N.C. — On Saturday, Presbyterian College went where it has never been before.

The Big South finals.

The Blue Hose (19-14) ousted top-seeded High Point (20-11) on its home court, Qubein Center, by a score of 59-50, in the Hercules Tires Big South Championships.

Led by Tilda Sjokvist – who had 19 points, six rebounds and five steals – the game had no shortage of Blue Hose heroes.

Mara Neira scored 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds and pilfered two steals. Nuria Cunill snagged 10 rebounds. A unified and determined defense limited the Panthers to a shooting percentage of .333.

“What a game by our kids,” PC head coach Alaura Sharp stated. “I thought from the first five minutes of the game, they wanted it. We came to hunt the win. We know that High Point is an unbelievable basketball team. I feel that our team togetherness won us the game.

“We shared the ball and calmed our turnovers down in the second half. The best way I can describe our team is love. They have so much love for each other. I am proud of our team. We made history today with our program. That is what these players came to PC to do. They came to PC to change the culture and change the program. I am forever thankful. I have a lot of love for them and the effort they put on tonight.”

The game was tied twice, at 2-2 and 37-37 with 4:38 remaining in the third quarter. The Panthers led once, 27-26, on Callie Scheier’s three-pointer with 1: 31 remaining in the first half. The top seed led for 15 seconds.

PC led 22-10 after a quarter, 30-27 at halftime and 43-37 after three quarters.

Bryanna Brady scored the game’s first two points, the second half’s first four and the fourth quarter’s first two and one more in the rest of the game. She had five rebounds and four assists.

Sjokvist effectively iced the game, draining two free throws after with 28 seconds left.

Coach Sharp beat High Point for the second time in her career and the first time in the postseason.
The Panthers are the Big South’s scoring leaders, and the Blue Hose held them to 50 points.
The Blue Hose play for the title on Sunday at for the Big South Tournament title on Sunday against third-seeded Radford (16-14) at 6 p.m.

The men’s final matches second-seeded UNC Asheville and fifth-seeded Longwood at noon.

High Point entered the tournament as first seed in both the men’s and women’s bracket.

That’s going to leave a mark … at the gate.

Take a look at the stats here.

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