GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Makenzie Cluesman finished with game highs of 20 points and nine rebounds as the University of Virginia's College at Wise erased a halftime deficit to defeat Tusculum College 63-58 in non-conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.

Cluesman hit four three-pointers and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line for the Cavaliers (5-1), who outscored the Pioneers (1-4) by a 19-9 margin in the third quarter after trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half. Kayla Carey added 12 points and six rebounds for the Cavaliers, who finished with a 41-33 edge in rebounding over the Pioneers.

Benedicta Makakala led the Pioneers with 12 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists, while freshman Regan Croff had a season-high 11 points and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds. Jasmine Queens also reached double figures for the Pioneers with 10 points and seven rebounds, but Tusculum shot 35.9 percent (23-for-64) from the field as a team and hit just two of 18 attempts from three-point range in the game.

Virginia-Wise led 6-2 after 3 1/2 minutes, but the Pioneers scored six straight points to take an 8-6 lead on a layup by Tara Shields with 3:44 left in the quarter. The teams exchanged the lead four more times in the closing stages of the quarter, with the Pioneers getting the final points on a jumper by Callie Patterson to go on top 15-13 at the end of the first period. Croff had seven points to lead the Pioneers in the opening quarter, while Cluesman had seven points to pace the Cavaliers.

Back-to-back baskets by Makakala and Patterson stretched the Tusculum lead to 19-13 in the opening minute of the second quarter, but the Cavaliers received a three-pointer from Cluesman and a layup from Carey to cut the margin to 19-18 with 7:36 left in the half. Tusculum responded by rattling off nine unanswered points, as Head scored seven of the points in a row on a layup, a three-pointer and two free throws which gave the Pioneers their largest lead at 28-18 with 4:50 to go in the half.

Tusculum led 32-24 following a Morgan Depew layup with just under a minute in the half, but Allison Ball drilled a three-pointer with six seconds left to send the Cavaliers to the locker room trailing 32-27. Croff and Head had nine points apiece for the Pioneers, who shot 14-for-29 (48.3 percent from the field in the half). The Cavaliers were led by Cluesman who had 12 points, but the team hit just 7-for-23 (30.4 percent) and had 11 turnovers which the Pioneers turned into 11 points.

A putback by Croff on the opening possession of the third quarter put the Pioneers on top 34-27, but Tusculum would not score a field goal for nearly six minutes as the Cavaliers came back with a 10-2 run over a 5 1/2 minute span. A layup by Cluesman gave Virginia-Wise a 37-36 lead with 4:05 left in the third quarter, but Tusculum knotted the game at 39-39 on a foul shot by Makakala with 2:44 remaining in the period.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Kayla Mullins and Cluesman gave the Cavaliers what eventually proved to be the lead for good at 45-39 with less than two minutes to go in the third quarter, and the Cavaliers led 46-41 after three quarters as Virginia-Wise shot 6-for-9 from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point range in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Tusculum shot 3-for-21 from the field in the third quarter despite collecting eight offensive rebounds in the period. Croff led the Pioneers with 11 points and eight rebounds through three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers' lead never dipped below five points thanks to 7-for-9 free-throw shooting in the period. Virginia-Wise took its largest lead at nine points on three occasions, the last time coming on a free throw by Carey with 1:30 left. Tusculum pulled within five points on two baskets by Makakala in the final 45 seconds, but Taylor Sandidge hit two free throws and Ball added two more to keep the Pioneers at bay.

Ball finished with 10 points and a team-high four assists for the Cavaliers, while Sandidge had eight points and four rebounds on 6-for-7 shooting from the foul line. As a team, Virginia-Wise shot 21-for-28 (75 percent) from the foul line while Tusculum was 10-for-15 (66.7 percent) at the stripe in the game.

Virginia-Wise finished the game with 21 turnovers, but Tusculum could convert the mistakes into just 13 points. The Pioneers had 12 turnovers as a team, six coming on offensive fouls, which the Cavaliers turned into 16 points. Tusculum had a 38-16 edge in points in the paint, while each team had six fast-break points.

Tusculum will return to action at Pioneer Arena on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. against Catawba in a South Atlantic Conference game.