COLUMBIA – Presbyterian pulled off the first upset of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament with a 49-42 victory Wednesday night against Sacred Heart in a First Four game played at Colonial Life Arena.
Presbyterian, the smallest school in the field and an 8.5-point underdog, won a play-in game for a No. 16 seed and advanced to Friday’s 2 p.m. first-round game here against No. 1 overall seed South Carolina.
Tilda Sjokvist of Presbyterian made a jumper for a 45-40 lead in the final minute. She scored eight points. Mara Neira led Presbyterian with 14 points. Bryanna Brady led the Blue Hose with 12 points. She had six of those on three consecutive scoring trips for a 41-34 lead.
The Blue Hose (21-14) won the Big South Conference from the No. 5 seed position after going 8-8 in league play during the regular season.
The Blue Hose are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance. The school moved to Division II in 2007. Women’s basketball made Division II appearances in 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000 and 2002.
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It was a distinctive home feel for Presbyterian, which is only about an hour away from Columbia. Sacred Heart (24-10), champion of the Northeast Conference with a campus in Fairfield, Conn., had only a few dozen fans among the 2,000 in attendance.
Presbyterian trailed for only 34 seconds. The Blue Hose opened a 25-11 lead on back-to-back three-point possessions by Neira. She made a three-point play with a foul shot and then made a 3-pointer for the 14-point lead. Presbyterian led, 29-17, at the half.
