Lenoir-Rhyne University shot 58.9 percent from the field and received a game-high 25 points from Jazmine Charles in an 84-45 victory over Tusculum College Saturday afternoon at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.

Brittany Christian added 15 points and seven rebounds and Danielle Bongiorno had 10 points, six assists and five steals for the Bears (10-3, 5-3 SAC), who scored 20 straight points in a nine-minute stretch spanning the halves and led by as many as 45 points in the second half against the Pioneers (1-11, 1-7 SAC).

Tusculum shot 27.6 percent (16-for-58) from the field as a team and connected on just nine of its 21 attempts at the foul line. The Pioneers failed to place anyone in double figures, though Kristen McMillion, Nequoiah Anderson and Blakeley Burleson each finished with nine points apiece. McMillion also had a game-high nine rebounds and blocked a pair of shots in 33 minutes off the bench.

The Bears shot 33-for-56 from the field and were 6-for-15 from three-point range, while converting 26 Pioneer turnovers into 30 points. Lenoir-Rhyne also finished the game with a 45-29 advantage in rebounding over Tusculum, paced by eight boards from Nneka Awuruonye and seven each by Christian and Jenni Gust.

Lenoir-Rhyne rushed out to a 9-0 lead after three minutes before Tusculum got on the board on a layup by Anderson with 16:23 to go in the first half. A free throw by Shynese Whitener cut the Bears' lead to 16-13 with 11:25 remaining in the half, but a 15-4 run from Lenoir-Rhyne gave the Bears a 31-17 lead with 6:16 left in the half.

A layup from McMillion drew the Pioneers within 31-19 with 5:47 on the first-half clock, but the Bears closed out the half with 10 straight points as Tusculum went 0-for-8 from the field with four turnovers. Lenoir-Rhyne led 41-19 at the half behind 15 points from Charles and eight by Bongiorno, while shooting 14-for-22 from the field (63.6 percent) in the half. Anderson led the Pioneers with six points as Tusculum mustered 25.9 percent (7-for-27) from the field as a team in the half.

Lenoir-Rhyne added to its lead with 10 straight points to start the second half, capped by a layup from Charles that gave the Bears a 51-19 lead with 17:01 to play. Brianna Mitchell broke the run with a free throw with 16:41 left, but the Bears added a 17-2 run later in the half to take their largest lead at 81-36 on a Brooke Robinson layup with 2:52 to go.

In addition to her nine points, Anderson had a career-high six steals while playing all 40 minutes for the Pioneers. Mitchell tallied six points in 23 mintes off the bench for Tusculum, while Whitener had five points and four rebounds.

Gust was the fourth player to reach double figures for the Bears, as she came up with 10 points to go along with her seven rebounds in 17 minutes of playing time. Lenoir-Rhyne's bench outscored the Tusculum bench by a 26-18 margin in the game, while the Bears controlled paint scoring over the Pioneers 44 to 16.

The Pioneers return home to take on Lincoln Memorial University in a SAC matchup Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. at Pioneer Arena.