HICKORY, N.C. --- Jalia Arnwine scored a game-high 19 points and Mya Belton recorded her fourth double-double in the last five games in leading the Tusculum University women's basketball team to a 58-48 South Atlantic Conference win at Lenoir-Rhyne University Saturday afternoon at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.
The Pioneers (5-7, 3-5 SAC) have won three of its last four games, while also recording their ninth consecutive victory over the Bears (3-6, 2-5 SAC). Tusculum will close out the 2021 portion of its schedule on Monday with a 3 p.m. league clash at Wingate University.
Belton finished the game with 15 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots as the Pioneers held the opposition under 50 points for a fifth time this season.
TU overcame an early 11-6 deficit and closed out the first quarter with an 11-2 run to take a 17-13 after 10 minutes of play. Arnwine sparked the Pioneers with eight points in the frame while Belton tallied six markers, four rebounds and two blocks.
The Bears would answer in the second quarter and tie the game at 21-21 at the 7:30 mark following a three-pointer by Hanna McClung. From there, Tusculum finished off the half with a 10-1 spurt including five points from Belton as the Pioneers took a 31-22 lead into the locker room.
TU extended the run to 14-1 as it was Belton and Arnwine opening with back-to-back buckets to make it a 35-22 game with 7:06 left in the third period. TU maintained its double-digit lead throughout most of the quarter and led 45-34 heading into the final 10 minutes. The Bears shot just 2-of-16 in the third quarter, but stayed within striking distance shooting 8-of-8 from the free throw line.
The Pioneers took their largest lead of the afternoon at 48-34 with 8:40 remaining, but TU would hit a scoring drought and the Bears responded with eight unanswered points in a 5:08 span to cut the deficit to 52-48 with 3:32 to go.
But the Pioneer defense clamped down as L-R missed its final four shots and TU scored the final six points of the game including two free throws each by Arnwine and Lexi Patty and a Jordan Rogers layup to seal the victory for the visitors.
Brandi Hudson led the Bears with 13 points, while Maddie Dillinger added 10 points. Emily Harman, who poured in a career-high 39 points in Wednesday's win over Anderson University, went 3-of-20 including 0-of-7 from three-point land as she was limited to eight points. Harman hauled in 10 rebounds and contributed five assists and four steals as L-R has not defeated Tusculum since the 2016-17 season.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 20-of-49 for 41 percent and went 7-of-16 from the three-point arc for 44 percent. The Bears shot 16-of-61 for 26.2 percent while holding a 46-34 edge on the boards including 21-8 on the offensive glass, resulting into 16 second chance points.
Rogers finished with seven points, two assists and two steals for the Pioneers, while Brianna Dixon got into early foul trouble and posted five points, six rebounds and two blocks in the win.
