GREENEVILLE, Tenn. -- Tashea LedBetter buried two free throws with three seconds remaining as the No. 22 Carson-Newman Women's basketball team rallied to defeat host Tusculum 71-70 Monday night at Pioneer Arena in South Atlantic Conference action.
The Lady Eagles (17-6, 7-5 SAC) end a four-game losing streak, while completing the season sweep over Tusculum (12-12, 4-9 SAC).
LedBetter posted 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench shooting 6-for-8 from the charity stripe, all in the second half. Shari Buford tallied a dozen markers, Cassie Burks finished with 11 points, while Tykira McDaniel added 10 points in the win. Casha Foster nearly recorded a rare triple-double as she finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and a team-high eight assists.
Tusculum was led by Ashli Oliver's 18 points, all on six 3-pointers. Chassity Martin finished with 15 points, while Lindsay Barta added 12 points and blocked five shots. Brooke Underwood recorded four points and a game-high 10 assists in the loss.
The contest was a close one throughout as the lead changed hands 11 times and was tied on 10 occasions. Tusculum led 29-25 at the half and enjoyed its largest advantage at 58-48 with nine minutes remaining as the Pioneers went on an 8-1 run capped off by a lay-up by Martin.
The Lady Eagles chipped away at that lead and used an 14-3 spurt to take a 68-64 lead with 1:56 remaining following a three-point play by McDaniel.
Tusculum responded six seconds later with a Martin three-pointer and regained the lead (70-68) with Oliver's sixth trey of the night at the 1:10 mark. LedBetter cut the deficit in half as she made one of two free throws with 53 seconds left.
After a missed jumper by Tusculum with 28 seconds left, Carson-Newman worked for the final shot. McDaniel missed a lay-up with five seconds left, but LedBetter came up with the critical rebound as was fouled. LedBetter canned both free throws and Tusculum couldn't get off a last second shot as the Pioneers suffered only its fourth loss at home this season.
Both teams will be in action Wednesday night for 6 p.m. South Atlantic Conference games in South Carolina. Tusculum will be at Newberry, while Carson-Newman visits Presbyterian.
