PC women stop Winthrop, advance to quarters

The Presbyterian College women’s basketball team advanced to the Big South Tournament Quarterfinals with a 64-52 victory over the Winthrop Eagles Tuesday night in Rock Hill.

PC, which moved to 7-23 with the victory, advanced to the quarterfinals for a contest with No. 1 seed Radford. That game is at Radford on Thursday night, with the winner advancing to Friday’s semifinal. The Highlanders, who won the regular-season title in the Big South, had a bye in the first round.

Trinity Johnson had 24 points, six assists and four steals to lead the Blue Hose on offense, while Salina Virola had 18 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. The Blue Hose held the Eagles to 1-for-12 shooting from 3-point range and 34 percent shooting from the field.

The victory marks the fifth time in six years the Blue Hose have won at least one game in the conference tournament. The only year PC did not win a game in the tournament was last season, when it lost to High Point in the quarterfinals on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Thursday’s quarterfinal game will be played at 6 p.m., and will air on ESPN3.