Courtesy UNCW Sports Information; WILMINGTON, N.C. – Junior forward Sahsha Taylor shook off early foul trouble to score 18 of her game-high 21 points in the second half as UNC Wilmington throttled Presbyterian, 91-59, in the season opener for both women’s basketball teams Friday night at Trask Coliseum.
The Seahawks lit up the scoreboard for their highest point total in 11 years before embarking on a two-game road trip Wednesday at Campbell. The Blue Hose, playing their first contest as an NCAA Division I provisional member, fell behind early and never recovered in the 32-point drubbing.
Taylor picked up two quick fouls and had just three points after playing just five minutes in the first half. She converted 7-of-10 field goals and 4-of-5 free throws after the break en route to her 21 points and added five rebounds to pace three Seahawks in double figures. Freshman forward Treasure Johnson added 16 points and rookie guard Brittany Blackwell collected 12 – all in the first half – to back up Taylor. Overall, newcomers combined to score 40 of UNCW’s 91 markers.
Junior forward Sharie Hopkins led a balanced scoring attack with 12 points for PC, which shot just 35.8 percent from the field. Senior guard Amy Jones, freshman guard Kristin Kidd and freshman guard Katlin Moore added 11 points apiece for the Blue Hose.
After building a 43-30 lead at halftime, the Seahawks used a 6-0 spurt early in the second period to push the margin to 49-30 with 17:23 left. Taylor scored on a layup and converted a pair of free throws, giving Ann Hancock’s club a good working margin.
PC sliced the lead to 17 points, 51-34, on a layup by Hopkins at 15:31 before Taylor scored six of the next eight points and the Seahawks put the game out of reach. The final deficit of 32 points represented the largest lead of the game for UNCW, which connected on 52.2 percent from the field.
Blackwell poured in six quick points as the Seahawks scored the first 10 points of the game. Junior point guard Shade Smith made the second of two free throws with 16:43 left in the first half to give UNCW a quick 10-0 advantage.
Amy Jones got PC on the board at the 16:11 mark with a pair of free throws and the Blue Hose pulled to 10-6 on a layup by Hopkins with 14:48 showing.
But the Seahawks reeled off 11 unanswered points to build the lead to 21-6 and led by as many as 13 points in the opening period. UNCW shot 54.5 percent from the floor and forced 13 turnovers to take a comfortable margin into the break.
With its 91-point output, the Seahawks scored their most points since a 93-70 victory over Hampton on Nov. 29, 1996.
PC continues its road trip with a 2 p.m. date Sunday at East Carolina.
Notes: The 32-point win matched the second largest margin of victory for the Seahawks during the Ann Hancock era, equaling the total set in a 87-55 victory over Coastal Carolina on Dec. 20, 2002…Junior Sahsha Taylor reached double figures for the 28th time in her career…Taylor’s 21 points also marked the 23rd time in her career that she has paced the team in scoring…UNCW is 12-11 in those contests…Sophomore Candace Walker saw game action for the first time since the end of the 2005-06 season after missing last year with a stress fracture in her foot…Walker paced the team in rebounding for the fourth time in her career.