ROCK HILL, S.C. – Winthrop women's basketball will close out the 2020-21 regular season at home against the Presbyterian Blue Hose on Mar. 2-3. The Eagles will honor the graduating class of 2021 prior to the start of Game 2. Tip-off for both contests is set for 6 p.m.
These games were originally scheduled for Feb. 25-26 but were postponed by the conference in an effort to prioritize cancellations and postponements that determine seeding and hosting situations for the upcoming Big South Women's Basketball Tournament.
WINTHROP (6-15, 5-13 BSC)
SERIES HISTORY
Presbyterian and Winthrop have met 26 times in the Division I era. Winthrop currently has a 25-11 all-time series lead over the Blue Hose. When PC came to Rock Hill in 2019-20, the Eagles won, 61-54, meanwhile, when the Eagles took a trip to Clinton, the Blue Hose won big on their home floor, 88-54.
WINTHROP EAGLES.
The Eagles enter the series with the Blue Hose coming off a tough road trip at UNC Asheville. Winthrop fell 61-37 in Game 1 and 57-46 in Game 2. In the first meeting, Maleeah Langstaff was the only Eagle to finish in double-figures with 10 points, while Anika Riley and Sydney Hunter both had a game-high eight rebounds. In Game 2, freshman made her first collegiate start and recorded a team and career-high 13 points. Myra Strickland also finished in double-figures with 12 points in the contest. Anika Riley was once again the team's leader in boards, with another eight.
NEW LEADER AT THE HELM
Semeka Randall Lay has taken over the Winthrop women's basketball program after serving as Associate Head Coach last season. Randall Lay in a 2000 graduate of the University of Tennessee, where she was an integral part of Tennessee's 1998 NCAA Championship team that went 39-0, averaging 15.9 points a game while earning honorable mention All-America recognition. She was drafted 17th overall in the 2001 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm and spent four years in the league. Randall Lay brings eight years of head coaching experience with an overall career record of 67-176.
MILESTONE TRACKER
Anika Riley has recorded 748 career rebounds and needs 33 more to take sole-possession of 7th best in program history. Graduate transfer Madison Ervin needs 79 points this season to record her 1,000 collegiate career point. She has made stops at Mars Hill, Cape Fear Community College and Georgia State. Junior Maleeah Langstaff is coming up on her 100th career assist, needing just two more to reach that milestone.
PRESBYTERIAN BLUE HOSE
Selected to finish eighth in the Big South preseason poll, the Blue Hose enter the contest against the Eagles with a 9-9 overall record and an 8-8 mark against conference opponents. PC has three players averaging double-figures this season; Tionna Carter (12.1.), Jade Compton (11.7) and Trinity Johnson (11.1.) Johnson was named to the Big South Preseason All-Conference Second-Team. Compton is averaging 8.3 rebounds per game, a team-high and fourth best in the conference. The Blue Hose's +4.4 rebound margin is a Big South Conference high. PC is coming off a split series against UNC Asheville. THe Blue Hose won Game 1 in dominant fashion, 82-64, with three athletes finishing in double-figures led by an impressive 27 points at the hands of Jade Compton. In Game 2, PC lost a close one, 61-59. Despite holding Asheville to just five points in the third quarter, a 20+ second and fourth lifted the Bulldogs over the Blue Hose. They are led by third-year head coach, Alaura Sharp.
