YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. --- Tusculum University held Georgia College without a field goal in the fourth quarter as the Pioneers defeated the Bobcats 67-46 on the final day of the YHC Women's Basketball Classic at the Harp Recreation and Commencement Center Sunday afternoon.
Jami Tham recorded her sixth straight double-double with game highs of 16 points and 12 rebounds, Blayre Shultz added 15 points, a career-high 10 rebounds and seven assists and Alyssa Walker contributed 15 points and six boards for the Pioneers (5-1), who outscored the Bobcats 17-4 during the decisive fourth quarter.
Alexa Geary led the Bobcats (6-1) with 13 points on 3-for-5 shooting from three-point range, but Georgia College went 0-for-10 from the field in the fourth period and shot 18.2 percent (4-for-22) from the field in the second half. The Bobcats also shot a dismal 9-for-16 (56.3 percent) from the foul line in the game and 4-for-10 from the stripe in the final quarter.
Tham shot 6-for-13 from the field and 3-for-4 from the foul line to extend her season-opening streak of double-doubles to six. Shultz's double-double was the first of her career and included six of Tusculum's 17 offensive rebounds in the game. Walker was 5-for-9 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, and 3-for-4 at the foul line to go along with two assists and a pair of steals.
Mya Belton contributed nine points, six rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots while Sophie Henry canned a pair of three-pointers and finished with six points along with three rebounds and two assists. Tusculum forced Georgia College into 13 turnovers, which the Pioneers converted into 19 points.
Both teams entered Sunday's game ranked regionally by D2SIDA, with Georgia College sixth in the latest Southeast Region poll and Tusculum eighth.
The teams swapped the lead six times during the opening quarter, with the largest lead coming at 14-11 in favor of the Bobcats following a basket by Dashaun Jackson with 4:29 left in the quarter. However, the Bobcats would miss their final six shots of the period and Tusculum would pull within one on a layup by Belton with 1:29 left, leaving the Pioneers behind 14-13 after one quarter.
The bucket by Belton would trigger an 11-0 run for the Pioneers as Tusculum scored the first nine points of the second quarter, including four from Walker, to go up 22-14 with 8:07 left in the half. A basket by Harper Vick would break the Bobcats' drought at just over 7 1/2 minutes, but Tusculum stretched its lead to 11 at 33-22 on a three-pointer by Walker with 1:58 left in the half.
Tusculum would take a 37-30 lead to intermission behind 10 points from Walker, nine from Belton and eight points and five rebounds from Tham. The Pioneers shot 48.3 percent (14-for-29) from the field as a team and drilled six three-pointers in the opening half, while the Bobcats shot 36.4 percent (12-for-33) but were 4-for-9 from long range. Geary paced Georgia College in scoring in the first half with eight points, including two threes.
The Bobcats held the Pioneers scoreless for just over five minutes to start the third quarter, and took a 39-37 lead on two free throws by Geary with 5:08 remaining in the period. Tusculum missed its first 10 shots of the quarter, but regained the lead on a putback by Shultz with 3:31 to go. That basket would trigger an 11-2 run for the Pioneers to end the quarter, capped by a layup from Shultz in the final seconds to send Tusculum to the fourth with a 50-42 advantage.
Tham would score eight of the Pioneers' first 13 points of the fourth quarter, including a bucket with 2:56 left that stretched the Tusculum lead to 63-44. A jumper by Deidre Cheremond with 1:18 left would give the Pioneers their largest lead of the game at 67-45.
Tusculum shot 37.9 percent (25-for-66) from the field for the game and hit 8-for-28 from three-point range, while Georgia College ended the afternoon shooting 29.1 percent (16-for-55) from the floor and 5-for-13 from deep. Jackson finished with seven points and a team-high nine rebounds for the Bobcats, while Ashyia Willis added nine points and five boards.
The Pioneers will return home to host Lander on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at Pioneer Arena. The Bearcats finished 24-5 last season and lost 59-57 to North Georgia in the Southeast Region finals, but are off to a 2-3 start this season which included a 54-49 win over Fayetteville State on Sunday.
