MARS HILL, N.C. --- Kasey Johnson scored 17 points, pulled 10 rebounds and blocked five shots as Tusculum College defeated Mars Hill University 68-58 in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Wednesday night at Stanford Arena.
Benedicta Makakala added 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Pioneers (3-10, 2-7 SAC), who won for the first time in eight road games this season by converting 26 turnovers from the Lions into 26 points.
Paige Chavis led the Lions (2-13, 0-9 SAC) with 17 points and five rebounds while Aliyah Farmer added 14 points and nine rebounds, but Mars Hill shot 36.7 percent (18-for-49) from the field and trailed from the midway point of the first quarter to the Pioneers.
Johnson's double-double was her third in six games this season, and came on 8-for-17 shooting from the field. Nine of her 10 rebounds came on the defensive glass, while her five blocks broke her career high of four set against Coker on Dec. 17.
Tusculum shot 42.6 percent (26-for-61) from the field, the third straight game that the Pioneers have shot 40 percent or better after doing so just once in their first 10 games. Tusculum's bench outscored the Mars Hill reserves by a 17-9 margin, and the Pioneers had a 26-18 edge in points in the paint.
Mars Hill took an early 5-0 lead on a three-pointer by Madison Ervin and a jumper by Farmer, but Tusculum came back as Callie Patterson hit a jumper and followed with a three-pointer and another jumper to pull the Pioneers into a 7-7 tie with 6:01 left in the first quarter. The Pioneers took the lead for good at 8-7 on a foul shot by Maelyn Head with 4:53 left in the quarter, and led 15-12 at the end of the period.
Back-to-back baskets from Sydney Wilson and Kristen Atwell pushed the Pioneers ahead 19-13 with 8:27 to go in the half, but the Lions came back within 21-29 on a foul shot by Chavis with 6:14 remaining. Johnson and Atwell then responded with field goals to restore Tusculum's six-point lead, and the advantage grew to eight thanks to a pair of three-pointers by Tara Shields in the final four minutes of the half.
Tusculum led 34-26 at intermission behind Patterson's seven points, along with six points and nine rebounds from Johnson. Tusculum shot 42.4 percent (14-for-33) from the field in the half and went 5-for-15 from three-point range, while Mars Hill shot just 32 percent (8-for-25) and turned the ball over 16 times. Chavis paced the Lions with nine points in the opening half, while Farmer had eight points and three boards.
The Pioneers took a 10-point lead on the opening possession of the third quarter on a basket by Jasmine Queen, but the Lions came back on a jumper by Farmer, a three-pointer from Chavis and a layup from Raven Brooks to cut the margin to 36-33 with 7:31 left in the quarter. The Pioneers answered with a layup from Johnson and a three-pointer by Head to regain their eight-point lead at 41-33. Leading 41-36 with 4:35 left in the quarter, Tusculum reeled off nine straight points capped by a Makakala three-pointer to take their largest lead at 50-36 with 2:23 left.
The Pioneers led 55-41 entering the fourth quarter, but saw the Lions score the first eight points of the stanza to pull within 55-49 following two free throws by Jenny Edwards with 5:25 remaining. The lead shrank to four on a foul shot by Chavis with 2:47 to go, but Wilson hit a pair of free throws with 1:48 left to give the Pioneers a 62-56 lead.
Mars Hill trailed 62-58 and had the ball with under 90 seconds left, but the Lions turned it over and Johnson scored at the other end with 51 seconds left to push the Tusculum advantage to 64-58. Two foul shots by Makalala and one each by Patterson and Johnson in the final 32 seconds set the game's final score.
Patterson hit double figures for the third straight game for the Pioneers with 10 points in 31 minutes, while Head had nine points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Wilson tallied seven points on 2-for-2 from the field and 3-for-3 at the line in 13 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers.
Ervin, Brooks and Edwards each finished the game with nine points for the Lions, with Brooks pulling six rebounds and Ervin adding five rebounds, four assists and four steals before fouling out in the final minute. Overall, Mars Hill had a 44-32 edge in rebounding and scored 11 second-chance points off 13 offensive rebounds.
Tusculum will be back home for the first time in four weeks when the Pioneers host Queens University of Charlotte on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Pioneer Arena.
