WINGATE, N.C. --- Tusculum University shot a season-low 22.5 percent from the field, yet nearly erased all of a 15-point second-half deficit before Wingate University held on for a 51-47 victory in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Cuddy Arena.
With the loss, the Pioneers (21-7, 16-6 SAC) are the third seed in the upcoming SAC Championship tournament, and will host the sixth-seeded Bulldogs (17-12, 11-11 SAC) on Wednesday at Pioneer Arena in the quarterfinal round. It will be the second year in a row that Tusculum and Wingate met in both the regular-season finale and the opening round of the conference tournament.
The Pioneers made just 16 field goals in 71 attempts and went 8-for-44 (18.2 percent) from three-point range, including 0-for-13 in the first quarter. The 22.5 percent shooting is the lowest single-game performance for the Pioneers since joining Division II and the South Atlantic Conference for the 1999-2000 season. Tusculum has scored exactly 47 points in each of its last three losses to Wingate, including an identical 51-47 outcome in last year's regular-season finale.
Despite the shooting woes, Tusculum's defense stepped up in the fourth quarter and held Wingate to four points while forcing the Bulldogs into 12 turnovers. Wingate scored just two points in the final 7:20 as the Pioneers went on a 10-0 run to close the margin to 49-47 on a basket by Jalia Arnwine with 2:14 left. The Pioneers had two shots for the lead in the final 90 seconds, but missed both attempts and Teliyah Jeter scored a putback with 17 seconds to go to clinch the win for the Bulldogs.
Mia Long was the only player in double figures for Tusculum with a game-high 17 points on 5-for-21 shooting from the field, to go along with six rebounds and six steals. Arnwine finished with nine points and Elle Hutchinson added eight points off the bench for Tusculum, which forced Wingate into 33 turnovers and scored 25 points off the miscues. Tusculum attempted 29 more shots than Wingate (71 to 42) and had 17 offensive rebounds, but the Bulldogs held the edge on the glass by a 47-34 margin over the Pioneers.
Hannah Clark scored 16 points to lead the Bulldogs, while Jeter had eight points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots. Maeola Willis grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for Wingate, which shot 47.6 percent (20-for-42) from the field and attempted all 13 of its foul shots during the third quarter when the Bulldogs went on an 18-0 run to turn a 30-27 deficit into a 45-30 lead.
Wingate scored the first four points of the game, while Tusculum missed its first six shots until Maddie Sutton converted a putback with 7:08 left in the first quarter. A basket by Hutchinson would bring the Pioneers within 8-4 with 3:08 left in the period, but Tusculum would miss its final nine shots to finish the quarter 2-for-23 from the field as Wingate led 10-4 after one.
Tusculum finally broke through from three-point range to start the second quarter, as a Long trey snapped an 0-for-15 drought from beyond the arc and cut the Wingate lead to 10-7. A quick 6-0 run by the Bulldogs would give Wingate a 20-11 lead with 5:49 to play in the half, but the Pioneers came back within 24-22 on a steal and layup by Arnwine with 1:19 to play.
Wingate led 27-22 at halftime as Clark, Elana Ingram and Bryanna Troutman each had six points in the opening half. The Bulldogs shot 13-for-22 (59.1 percent) from the field in the first half but turned the ball over 14 times. Long was the top scorer in the first half for the Pioneers with seven points, with Tusculum shooting 8-for-39 (20.5 percent) from the floor and 4-for-24 from three-point range in the half.
Tusculum opened the second half with eight straight points, including three each from Kasey Johnson and Long and two free throws by Arnwine, to go up 30-27 with 6:24 left in the third quarter. The Pioneers then missed five straight free throws with a chance to build on its lead, and the Bulldogs took advantage as Willis converted a putback, Clark hit a three-pointer and Daphney Saylor scored on a layup to put Wingate ahead 34-30 with 4:36 left in the third. Tusculum would miss 10 straight shots during Wingate's 18-0 run before Aliyah Miller hit a jumper with 1:11 to go in the period.
The Pioneers trailed 47-34 entering the fourth quarter, but used three-pointers from Arnwine and Hutchinson to cut the margin to 49-40 with 5:51 remaining. Two free throws from Long with 5:31 left and a three by Long with 4:47 to go brought Tusculum within 49-45, and Arnwine hit a layup with 2:14 remaining to trim the Wingate lead to 49-47. Tusculum could not hit the go-ahead three on back-to-back trips, and Jeter hit a putback with 17 seconds left to set the final margin.
Troutman finished with six points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots for the Bulldogs, who received five points and six rebounds in 32 minutes off the bench from Destiny Coleman. Wingate finished the game with nine blocked shots as a team.
Sutton scored her only points of the game on the Pioneers' first basket, but finished with a team-high seven rebounds to go along with three steals. The Pioneers had 17 steals against the Bulldogs with three apiece from Sutton and Arnwine.
Wednesday's quarterfinal game between Tusculum and Wingate will tip off at 5:30 p.m. from Pioneer Arena. The Pioneers will be playing their first home postseason game since 2012 and will be playing Wingate in the SAC Tournament for the fifth time. Wingate is 3-1 all-time against Tusculum in conference tournament play, including a 53-47 homecourt victory in last year's quarterfinal round.
