Johnson City Times

Tusculum University held off three potential game-tying shots by Wingate University in the final 20 seconds to come away with a 54-52 victory Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action from Pioneer Arena.

Jami Tham posted her 18th straight double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds and Mya Belton added 15 points and seven boards for the Pioneers (14-4, 6-2 SAC), who led by as many as 11 points in the third quarter only to see the Bulldogs (11-5, 4-3 SAC) rally within a possession six times in the fourth quarter.

Blayre Shultz added 10 points and a career-high five steals for the Pioneers, who earned their first win by two points or less since a 57-56 victory at Wingate on Dec. 13, 2015. Following Wednesday's 83-81 double-overtime loss at Carson-Newman on Wednesday, it is the first time the Pioneers have played two straight games decided by two points or less since Feb. 22-25, 2017.

Bryanna Troutman led Wingate with 13 points and seven rebounds, but the Bulldogs were just 8-for-14 (57.1 percent) from the foul line after entering the game shooting 77.2 percent from the stripe for the season. Wingate finished with 23 turnovers, which Tusculum turned into 17 points, while the Bulldogs forced the Pioneers into 22 turnovers and converted them into 18 points. Tusculum was outrebounded 38-33 by Wingate, but won for the first time this season when not finishing with more rebounds than their opponent.

Belton sank three three-pointers and had three blocked shots while playing all 40 minutes. With her 15 points, Belton moved within eight of becoming the 21st player in program history to score 1,000 career points. Belton also boosted her career total to 131 blocked shots, leaving her 10 shy of tying the program career record of 141 set by Stephany Neptune from 2005-09.

Tusculum never trailed after taking a 14-11 lead on a three-pointer by Tham with two minutes left in the first quarter, and led 34-23 following a three from Shultz with 3:46 to go in the third quarter. After trailing 46-37 with 6:46 remaining, the Bulldogs pulled within 50-48 on a basket by Emily Hege with 2:59 left. Tusculum led 54-52 after a putback by Troutman with 24 seconds left, but Wingate came up with a steal to have a final chance to tie or take the lead. However, the Bulldogs missed three shots from close range in the final seconds, the last by Hannah Clark with one second left with Belton securing the rebound as time expired.

The Pioneers entered the game ranked sixth in the latest D2SIDA Southeast Region poll, while Wingate was ranked seventh in the region. It was the fourth straight meeting between the teams decided by five points or less, and Tusculum's fourth win in their last five home games against Wingate. The Pioneers improved to 9-0 at home with the win, the third-longest active home winning streak in the conference behind Lenoir-Rhyne (13) and Catawba (11).

Wingate took an early 7-2 lead, but Belton scored seven of the first 11 points for Tusculum to bring the Pioneers into an 11-11 tie with 2:56 left in the first quarter. Wingate did not score a field goal in the final 4:39 of the quarter and went 0-for-4 with two turnovers as Tusculum led 16-11 after the opening period.

The Pioneers would extend its run to 12-0 on a three-pointer by Belton with 7:02 left in the first half before the Bulldogs snapped their field goal drought at nearly nine minutes on a three-point play by Troutman with 5:43 remaining in the second quarter. The Bulldogs would rally back within 21-19 with 3:39 remaining in the half on a three-pointer by Wilson and a layup by Troutman, but a three-pointer from Belton would help Tusculum to a 24-21 advantage at the half.

Belton led all players with 13 points in the first half for Tusculum while Tham had nine points and nine rebounds. The Pioneers shot 28.1 percent (9-for-32) in the half and went 4-for-12 from three-point range as a team. Wingate had eight different players score a point in the opening half, but Troutman's five points led the team as the Bulldogs shot 29.2 percent (7-for-24) and went 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.

Tusculum's lead would swell to its largest at 34-23 following two straight three-pointers from Deidre Cheremond and Shultz, the latter with 3:46 to play in the third quarter. A 7-0 Wingate run would bring the Bulldogs within 34-30 on a Troutman layup with 2:02 left in the third, but a late layup by Belton would help Tusculum carry a 38-32 lead into the fourth.

The Tusculum advantage grew to 46-37 with 7:17 to go after back-to-back three-pointers from Shultz and Delana DeBusk, but Wingate would come back to within 46-43 on a steal and layup by Clark with 5:31 left. Tusculum's lead would be trimmed to 50-48 as Hege hit her only field goal of the game with 2:58 left, but Tham sank two foul shots with 1:56 remaining for a 52-48 lead. Wingate would miss consecutive three-point attempts, but the second miss was put back by Troutman to cut Tusculum's lead to 52-50 with 43 seconds left.

A basket by Deidre Cheremond gave Tusculum a 54-50 lead with 40 seconds to go, but Wingate would again use a third chance to score as Troutman's putback brought the Bulldogs within 54-52 with 24 seconds left. The Bulldogs came up with a steal out of a timeout and had a chance to tie, but Hege missed with 18 seconds to go and Clark came up empty twice in the final 10 seconds.

DeBusk made her first career start for the Pioneers and played all 40 minutes, setting season highs with five points and six assists while tying her season best with two steals. Cheremond had seven points and five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers. Clark finished with nine points, four rebounds and four steals for Wingate but had six turnovers, while AJ Davis led the Bulldogs off the bench with seven points and three rebounds in 14 minutes.

With the win, Tusculum stays tied with Carson-Newman atop the SAC Mountain Division standings at 6-2 in league play. The Pioneers will return to the court next Saturday, Jan. 21 at Coker for a 2 p.m. tipoff with the Cobras. Coker had lost 10 of 11 before defeating Converse 48-29 in a non-conference game on Friday, and will travel to Anderson on Wednesday with a 5-10 overall record and 0-7 in SAC play.

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