Nneka Awuruonye led all players with 26 points and 11 rebounds and Lenoir-Rhyne University bounced back after squandering a 15-point second half lead to defeat Tusculum College 64-59 in South Atlantic Conference Women's basketball action Wednesday night at Shuford Gymnasium.

Jazmine Charles added 20 points for the Bears (16-7, 11-4 SAC), who snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Pioneers and remain one game behind first-place Anderson with three games remaining in the regular season.

Four players scored in double figures for the Pioneers (13-10, 7-8 SAC), including Kendal Baxter who became the 26th player in Division II history to make 300 career three-pointers. Baxter hit four three-pointers in all and scored 12 points, matching Ashley Thurman for the team lead in scoring.

Baxter is just the second player in school and conference history to make 300 career three-pointers, joining Ashli Oliver who made 375 from 2005 through 2009. Baxter is the second active Division II player to make 300 three-pointers and just the fifth current player across all divisions to reach the milestone.

The Pioneers trailed 39-24 with 16:25 left and faced a 41-27 deficit with 14:29 to go, but the 300th career three-pointer from Baxter with 14:13 remaining sparked a 15-0 Tusculum run. Baxter capped the run with her fourth three-pointer of the night with 10:15 on the clock to give Tusculum a 42-41 lead.

Lenoir-Rhyne bounced back to go on top 49-45 with 7:07 to go on a three-pointer by Charles, only to see Tusculum knot the game at 49-49 on back-to-back baskets by April McCann and Shynese Whitener.

The Pioneers again fell behind by four points at 53-49 on two straight field goals by Awuruonye, but Thurman hit two free throws and followed with a putback to tie the game, and Breaira Barksdale gave Tusculum a 55-53 lead on a basket with 4:08 remaining.

Awuruonye tied the game at 55-55 on a putback with 3:15 left, then after a steal she hit two free throws with 3:02 to play to give the Bears the lead for good at 57-55. Tusculum trailed 59-57 after a jumper by Barksdale with 1:37 to play, but Charles drilled a three-pointer with 1:18 remaining to push the Lenoir-Rhyne lead to five at 62-57. Two free throws by Charles and a late layup by Barksdale wrapped up the scoring.

The teams traded the lead six times in the first half, but it was a 9-0 Lenoir-Rhyne run that gave the Bears a 25-15 lead with 5:10 left in the first half. Tusculum was able to chop the deficit down to four at 26-22 with 3:46 to go before the break, but the Bears scored seven of the final nine points to go to the locker room with a 33-24 lead.

Leading the way for Lenoir-Rhyne in the first half was Awuruonye, with 14 points and six rebounds, while Charles added 10 points. Baxter and Nequoiah Anderson shared the team lead in scoring for the Pioneers with six points apiece in the first half, but Tusculum shot just 30 percent (9-for-30) at the line as a team.

The Pioneers went nearly six minutes without a field goal to open the second half, but that basket was the three-pointer from Baxter that sparked the run that gave Tusculum the short-lived lead.

McCann finished with 11 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes for the Pioneers, while Barksdale had 10 points and four assists. Kristen McMillion matched McCann for the team lead with six rebounds off the bench, while Anderson had five boards to go with her six points.

Overall, Tusculum shot 38.2 percent (21-for-55) from the field and 12-for-16 from the foul line. Lenoir-Rhyne tailed off in the second half and finished the game at 44 percent (22-for-50) from the field, but went 17-for-26 at the free-throw line including a 9-for-11 effort from Charles.

Just five players accounted for the Bears' 64 points, with Jenni Gust finishing with seven, Alexis Katt with six to go with six rebounds and Caroline Laughter with five in addition to seven rebounds and five assists.

Lenoir-Rhyne had a 40-32 rebounding advantage over Tusculum in the game, but committed 19 turnovers which the Pioneers turned into 30 points. Tusculum had 17 turnovers as a team in the game.

The Pioneers will look to snap their three-game losing streak on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Mars Hill.