WINGATE, N.C. --- The Wingate University women's basketball team overcame a 17-point halftime deficit and rallied to a 64-59 South Atlantic Conference victory over visiting Tusculum University Monday afternoon at Cuddy Arena.
The Bulldogs (10-1, 8-0 SAC) record their 10th straight victory to move into a tie for first place in the league standings heading into the holiday break.
The Pioneers (5-8, 3-6 SAC) led 39-22 at the intermission, only to see Wingate outscore TU 42-20 in the second half including 20-4 in the third quarter.
Tusculum got into foul trouble in the second half as the Pioneers where whistled for 17 fouls including a pair of technical fouls went sent WU to the free throw line 23 times in the final two periods. Wingate would finished the game going 23-of-31 at the charity stripe, while TU connected on nine of its 11 trips to the foul line in the game including just two free throw tries in the final 20 minutes.
Wingate's Hannah Clark led all scorers with 20 points off the bench, while Haleigh Brandon finished with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
TU's Jalia Arwine finished the game with 14 points while playing the entire game. Mya Belton and Brianna Dixon added 13 points apiece while Deidre Cheremond tallied 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Tusculum led 22-12 in the first quarter as Dixon buried a three-pointer just before the buzzer to give the Pioneers a 10-point lead.
TU maintained the double-digit lead throughout most of the second period and took its largest lead of the game when Dixon hit another buzzer-beating triple to take 17-point lead into the locker room.
Wingate opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run while the Pioneers missed their first five shots and committed two turnovers as the Bulldogs trimmed the deficit to 39-31 at the 5:41 mark. Cheremond snapped the drought with her offense rebound and layup to push the TU advantage to 41-31. WU scored six straight and closed out the frame with an 11-2 run to trail 43-42 heading into the final quarter.
Wingate took its second lead of the game and first since early in the first quarter as Clark connected on a pair of free throws with eight minutes remaining to go ahead 47-45. The Bulldogs later extended the lead to 52-47 on Brianna Troutman's three-point play as Dixon collected her fifth personal foul.
The Pioneers responded with a 5-0 spurt as Belton connected on a jumper and Arnwine hit a game-tying triple to knot the game at 52-52 with 3:44 remaining in the contest.
The Bulldogs moved the lead back out to five with a 7-2 run including back-to-back buckets by Troutman as WU led 59-54 with 1:30 to go. Arnwine hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to make it a 59-57 contest with 1:10 left on the clock.
Brandon was fouled as she made one of two free throws for a 60-57 advantage with 35 seconds remaining. On TU's ensuing possession, a three-point try by Arnwine was off the mark and Brandon came down with the rebound and was fouled sending her to the free throw line where she made both as Wingate pushed the lead to 62-57 with 16 seconds left.
Belton made her driving layup with nine seconds left to make it a one-possession game. But Peyton Davis would make her two free throws to seal the comeback and the victory for the Bulldogs.
Tusculum and Wingate will face off again to open the second half of the season on Jan. 5 at Pioneer Arena in Greeneville.
