GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum College used a 19-0 first-quarter run to take the lead for good, and held on down the stretch for a 59-50 win over Coker College in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
Four players scored in double figures for the Pioneers (2-7, 1-4 SAC), who snapped a six-game losing streak with the win over the Cobras (1-9, 1-5 SAC). Benedicta Makakala led the way for Tusculum with 12 points along with six assists, while Sydney Wilson had 11 points and set career highs with eight rebounds and six steals. Kasey Johnson added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to go with four blocked shots, and Tara Shields also reached double figures with 10 points in the victory.
Kendra Lambert paced the Cobras with 13 points while Trai Johnson also came off the bench to score 10 points and grab four rebounds. Terrika Foster had seven points and a game-high 12 rebounds for Coker, which turned the ball over 30 times in the game and saw Tusculum convert those miscues into 33 points.
Coker took an early 8-3 lead by hitting four of their first seven shots from the field, but a basket by Sydney Shull with 6:05 left in the first quarter would be their final points of the period as Tusculum reeled off 19 unanswered points. The Pioneers went 8-for-11 from the field during the run while forcing the Cobras into nine turnovers, including five in a row to end the quarter, as Tusculum led 22-8 after one period.
Tusculum took its largest lead of the afternoon at 31-14 on a three-point play by Jasmine Queen with 4:24 left in the first half, and carried a 12-point advantage (34-22) into the break as Queen led all players with nine points while Makakala added seven for the Pioneers. Lambert led the Cobras with six points as Coker shot 9-for-20 from the field and turned the ball over 20 times in the opening half, leading to 24 points for the Pioneers.
A basket by Lambert midway through the third quarter brought the Pioneer lead back into single digits at 39-31, and two free throws from Foster in the final minute trimmed the deficit to six. Tusculum led 45-38 at the end of three quarters as the Pioneers were limited to just three field goals in the period.
Back-to-back layups by Iresha Cooper pulled Coker within 47-44 with 7:32 left, but a free throw from Wilson and two foul shots by Shields helped the Pioneers to a 50-44 edge with 6:48 left. Lambert drained a three on the next possession for the Cobras to cut the margin back to three, but she missed twice on potential game-tying threes inside the final six minutes. Tusculum, which finished 19-for-30 as a team from the foul line in the game, went 7-for-8 in the final 2:33 while holding Coker without a basket for the final 3:31.
Johnson, who was making her second appearance and first start of the season, recorded her fifth career double-double for the Pioneers and also doubled her previous career high for blocked shots with her four rejections. Wilson also set new personal bests in her first start of the season for the Pioneers, surpassing her previous career highs of six rebounds and four steals.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 33.3 percent (18-for-54) from the field, and 4-for-12 from three-point range. Coker ended up at 35.3 percent (18-for-51) from the floor and just 1-for-15 on three-pointers, while going 13-for-18 at the foul line. Both teams had 12 fast break points, while Coker outscored Tusculum in the paint by a 28-18 margin.
The Cobras outrebounded the Pioneers 47-32 in the game, with Sydney Shull adding seven rebounds to her totals of six points, five assists and three steals. Coker's bench outscored the Tusculum subs by a 27-6 margin, in large part due to the double-figure performances of Lambert and Trai Johnson.
The Pioneers will wrap up the 2016 portion of their schedule on Monday night with a trip to Anderson to face the Trojans. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m.
