BREVARD, N.C. --- Kasey Johnson scored 17 points and grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds as Tusculum College defeated Brevard College 71-57 in South Atlantic Conference Women's basketball game Wednesday night at Boshamer Gymnasium.

Shynese Whitener scored a team-high 19 points and had seven rebounds for the Pioneers (9-7, 7-6 SAC), who scored a season-best 45 points in the second half to withstand a late run by the Tornados (1-14, 0-11 SAC). Maelyn Head also reached double figures for the Pioneers with 13 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field, including three three-pointers.

Madison Lenox had a game-high 24 points along with eight rebounds for Brevard, which cut a 14-point deficit to two midway through the fourth quarter, only to be outscored 18-6 over the final 4 1/2 minutes.

Johnson, who entered the game ranked sixth in the SAC in field-goal percentage at 52.7 percent, shot 6-for-11 from the field and 5-for-6 from the foul line to reach double figures for the fifth straight game, seventh time in the last eight games and ninth time overall this season. Her 13 rebounds are the most for a Pioneer this season and broke her previous best of 11 boards set against Queens on Jan. 16.

Whitener, the SAC leader in scoring at 19.0 points per game, hit her average on the nose and in the process moved into 14th place on the program career scoring list with 1,072 points, passing both Stephany Neptune (1,061 from 2005-09) and Chasity Martin (1,053 from 2003-07) with her performance Wednesday night.

Tusculum went 18-for-20 (90 percent) from the foul line and 5-for-8 from three-point range in the second half, while the defense held Brevard to 36.8 percent shooting (21-for-57) from the field for the game and just 6-for-29 on three-pointers.

The Pioneers never trailed the Tornados, scoring the first seven points on a three-point play and a layup from Johnson and a jumper by Whitener. Tusculum led 17-7 at the end of the first quarter, with 10 of their points coming off Brevard turnovers.

Tusculum took its largest lead of the first half at 23-9 on a jumper by Morgan Depew with 7:15 left in the second period, but Brevard was able to whittle the deficit to 26-19 at intermission on a basket by Shelby Wolfe in the final 30 seconds.

Johnson led the Pioneers with nine points and seven rebounds in the first half, while Whitener had six points to go along with four rebounds. Lenox paced the Tornados with seven points, five rebounds and three steals, but Brevard shot 28 percent (7-for-25) from the field and 4-for-10 from the foul line in the half.

Head took over for the Pioneers in the third quarter, hitting back-to-back three-pointers to give Tusculum a 34-26 lead with 7:54 left in the third quarter. Two more three-pointers, from Head and Whitener, pushed the Pioneers to a 40-31 lead with 6:32 remaining in the period. Tusculum would build its lead to 10 on a three-point play by Johnson with one minute left in the period, and took a 47-39 lead into the final quarter.

Brevard rallied in the fourth quarter behind a pair of three-pointers from Katie Williams, the latter bringing the Tornados within 53-51 with 5:25 left. However, the Pioneers scored the next six points on a basket by Jasmine Queen along with a jumper and two free throws by Whitener. Tusculum put the game away at the foul line, going 6-for-6 in the final 90 seconds to keep their lead at double figures.

Queen went 3-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 at the line to finish with eight points along with three rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers. Kristen McMillion was limited to 15 minutes due to foul trouble, but still managed to record eight points, seven rebounds and four steals.

Wolfe joined Lenox in double figures for the Tornados, finishing with 13 points to go along with six rebounds, all on the offensive end. As a team, Brevard had 13 offensive rebounds in the game which they were able to turn into 15 points.

Both teams benefitted from the other's miscues, as Tusculum scored 25 points off 23 Brevard turnovers while the Tornados had 22 points off 22 Pioneer giveaways. Tusculum finished the game with a 36-33 edge in rebounding over Brevard.

The Pioneers return to action Saturday afternoon against Wingate, looking for a sweep of the season series with the Bulldogs. Tusculum won 57-56 on the road on Dec. 13 for their first victory at Wingate since 2010. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday.