SALISBURY, N.C. --- Serena Brown recorded a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Catawba women's basketball team to a 70-58 South Atlantic Conference win over visiting Tusculum Saturday afternoon at Goodman Gym. Catawba (4-4, 2-1 SAC) evens its record while snapping the Pioneers (7-2, 2-1 SAC) three-game winning streak.
Brown led four Catawba players in double-figure scoring as the duo of Terri Rogers and Taisha DeShazo contributed 13 points apiece, while Madison Hallman added 11 markers and a game-high five assists in the victory.
Tusculum junior Kasey Johnson posted a season-high 18 points going 7-of-11 from the floor and a 3-of-3 from the free throw line. Johnson also pulled down six rebounds and added two steals. TC junior Sydney Wilson also had a season-best18 points off the bench for the Pioneers.
Catawba outscored Tusculum 23-14 in the opening quarter and used a 21-7 run in a span of 6:47 to take a 23-10 lead. TC got a Johnson bucket and a pair of Wilson free throws to trim the deficit to 23-14 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second frame, Catawba pushed its advantage back out to a dozen at 26-14 before the Pioneers responded with a 9-2 spurt thanks to five points from Johnson and a bucket each from Wilson and Maddie Sutton as TC trailed 28-23 with 4:47 remaining in the half.
After a Catawba timeout, the Indians scored seven unanswered to move out to a 12-point cushion (35-23) with 3:26 left in the first half. TC responded with a Wilson layup and a three-pointer from Mia Long to get within 37-29 with 58 seconds left. But Hallman followed with a layup and a three-pointer as the Catawba Indians carried a 42-29 lead into the locker room.
Catawba took its largest lead of the game following Brown's three-pointer to open the third quarter to lead 45-29. But the Pioneers wouldn't go away as TC whittled down the Catawba lead to single digits again and used an 11-2 run to trail 47-40 with 2:12 left in the quarter.
Early in the final frame, TC was down by 11 by Johnson converted a three-point play as Catawba led 53-45 with 8:34 remaining. But that would be as close as the Pioneers would get as the Indians scored five straight and pushed the lead back out to 16 (65-49) to put the game out of reach.
Catawba finished the game shooting 53 percent from the field, including 18-of-27 (66.7%) in the first half. TC shot 34 percent from the floor and went 4-of-18 (22.2%) from three-point territory. Catawba out-rebounded Tusculum by a 42-26 margin and held the Pioneers to a season-low on the boards.
TC forced 25 turnovers with 13 steals converting those miscues to 18 points. Catawba forced 16 TC turnovers and scored 16 points off of those.
Long finished the game with eight points, while Martoria Patton and Sutton finished with four markers each. Patton led the Pioneers with seven rebounds, including six on the offensive glass to go along with her three steals.
Tusculum returns to action on Wednesday when they host Coker for a 6 p.m. South Atlantic Conference contest at Pioneer Arena.
