GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Lenoir-Rhyne University shot 59.6 percent from the field and built a 20-point first-quarter lead before holding off a Tusculum University rally in the fourth quarter, as the Bears defeated the Pioneers 73-66 Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball.
Blaikley Crooks scored a game-high 22 points and Emily Harman added 19 for the Bears (19-5, 9-5 SAC), who snapped a three-game losing streak by reaching the 70-point mark in a game for the first time since Jan. 1. The Bears were just 3-for-8 from three-point range, but outscored Tusculum 32-22 in the paint in snapping a 10-game losing streak to the Pioneers. Lenoir-Rhyne's last victory over Tusculum came on Feb. 4, 2017 by a 57-53 score at Pioneer Arena.
Blayre Shultz led the Pioneers (18-6, 9-5 SAC) with 18 points and Mya Belton added 16 points and five steals, while Jami Tham tacked on her 23rd double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Tusculum was just 2-for-12 in the field in the first quarter and trailed by nine points or more from the opening four minutes until 5 1/2 minutes remained in the game. The loss was the third in a row at home for the Pioneers after opening the season with nine consecutive home victories.
The 59.6 percent shooting allowed by the Pioneers was the highest in a game since Nov. 19, 2005 when USC Upstate hit 64.1 percent (25-for-39) in a 77-69 Tusculum victory. It was the highest percentage allowed in a conference game by Tusculum since Feb. 25, 2004 when Mars Hill hit an identical 59.6 percent in a 76-48 Lions victory.
Azariah Fields also reached double figures for Lenoir-Rhyne with 12 points to go along with five rebounds and six assists. The Bears tied their season high with 23 turnovers, but forced the Pioneers into 21 turnovers which they converted into 21 points.
Shultz scored in double figures for the ninth straight game and the 13th time in the last 14 games by going 6-for-12 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, and 4-for-5 from the foul line while coming up with five steals. Belton hit three three-pointers and blocked two shots to move within two of the program career record of 141 set by Stephany Neptune from 2005-09.
Tham, who saw her streak of consecutive double-doubles end on Wednesday at UVA Wise, needed a rebound and a free throw in the final 10 seconds to claim her 23rd double-double of the year and break the program single-season record of 22 set by Susan Starnes during the 1995-96 season.
Despite the loss, Tusculum remains in second place in the SAC Mountain Division standings, one game ahead of third-place Limestone (8-6) with four games left in the regular season. The Pioneers, who have already clinched a berth in the upcoming SAC Championship tournament, are 1 1/2 games ahead of fourth-place Lincoln Memorial (8-7).
Lenoir-Rhyne scored the game's first 12 points, including three straight baskets from Fields, until Tusculum got on the board on a jumper by Deidre Cheremond with 5:06 left. The Pioneers had four turnovers and missed their first five shots from the field prior to Cheremond's basket. The Bears would stretch their lead to 23-3 on a three-pointer by Jalen Gathers with 2:28 left in the quarter, and led 23-5 after one quarter on 68.8 percent (11-for-16) shooting from the field. Tusculum shot just 2-for-12 from the floor in the period and turned the ball over eight times.
Tusculum went on its first scoring run midway through the second quarter, holding Lenoir-Rhyne scoreless for more than 4 1/2 minutes while using a three-point play from McKenna Myers and a three-pointer from Belton to pull within 27-15 with 3:04 left in the half. Tusculum would move within 31-22 on a three-pointer from Belton with 49 seconds remaining, but Crooks hit a basket in the closing seconds to send the Bears to intermission with a 33-22 lead.
Crooks led all players with 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting and Fields had eight points for the Bears, who shot 55.2 percent (16-for-29) from the field in the opening half. Belton had eight points and four rebounds to lead the Pioneers, who hit just 25.9 percent (7-for-27) from the floor but a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line.
Tusculum battled back within 37-28 on a basket by Tham with 7:48 left in the third quarter, but the Bears responded with an 11-2 run that was capped by a Crooks jumper for a 48-30 lead with 4:43 to go in the period. The Pioneers would pull within 54-42 on a three-pointer from Carleigh Wilson with 1:55 remaining, but Tusculum would still trail 61-46 heading to the final quarter.
The Pioneers opened the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run, with a three-pointer from Belton bringing Tusculum within 63-55 with 5:35 to play. Shultz canned a three with 2:42 left to trim the Bears' lead to 67-62, and an exchange of free throws from Harman and Tham left the Bears with a five-point lead with 1:55 to go. Brandi Hudson stretched the Lenoir-Rhyne lead to 70-63 with 1:31 remaining, and a putback from Cheremond made it 70-65 Bears with 1:12 left. Two free throws from Harman and one from Megan Landsiedel in the final 45 seconds would keep the Bears with a three-possession lead.
Cheremond finished with eight points, six rebounds and four steals in 28 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers, while Myers had five points, three rebounds and a team-high five assists in 21 minutes in a reserve role.
Tusculum will host Carson-Newman in a Mountain Division showdown on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at Pioneer Arena. The Eagles (15-8, 10-3 SAC) moved two games ahead of the Pioneers in the division standings with an 81-75 victory over Anderson on Saturday. Carson-Newman beat Tusculum 83-81 in double overtime in the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 11 in Jefferson City.
