GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- A pair of second-half runs and timely foul shooting in the fourth quarter lifted UVA Wise to a 67-56 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Wednesday evening at Pioneer Arena.
The Cavaliers (11-15, 11-12 SAC) clinched a berth in the upcoming SAC Championship tournament and denied the Pioneers (12-15, 10-13 SAC) an opportunity to clinch by going on runs of 11-2 to end the third quarter and 8-0 midway through the fourth quarter after Tusculum had twice erased second-half deficits. UVA Wise was 14-for-14 from the foul line in the fourth period and 22-for-27 for the game, while Tusculum was just 5-for-7 from the stripe in the contest.
Nia Vanzant led the Cavaliers with 20 points as four of the seven players to play for UVA Wise reached double figures in scoring. Katlin Burger added 12 points and five rebounds, Kalee Johnson had 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds and Mackenzie King scored 10 off the bench for the Cavaliers, who shot 45.7 percent (21-for-46) from the field for the game and 65 percent (13-for-20) in the second half.
Brianna Dixon scored 15 points and Lexi Patty matched her season high with 15 points for the Pioneers, who saw their five-game winning streak come to an end and dropped into a tie for eighth place in the SAC standings with Lenoir-Rhyne heading into Saturday's season finale at Anderson. A Tusculum win over the Trojans or a Lenoir-Rhyne loss at Newberry would secure a tournament berth for the Pioneers.
Tusculum missed its first 12 shots from the field and finished the game at 31 percent (22-for-71) from the field. The Pioneers were outrebounded 42-34 by the Cavaliers, led by Mya Belton who had a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with six points, four blocked shots and four steals. The 67 points surrendered by the Pioneers snapped a streak of six straight games in which Tusculum had allowed 52 points or less, and the Pioneers gave up 44 points to the Cavaliers in the second half after allowing just 48.4 points per game during their run of five straight victories.
UVA Wise scored the first four points of the game on baskets by Vanzant and Johnson, and Tusculum got on the board on a free throw by Jordan Rogers with 7:37 left in the opening quarter. The Pioneers trailed 6-1 after a layup by Burger with 5:11 to play, and did not get their first field goal until Jalia Arnwine drilled a three-pointer with 3:07 left to cut the Cavaliers' lead to 6-4. The Pioneers tied the game at 8-8 on a putback by Rogers with 11 seconds left in the quarter, but Johnson sank a three-pointer at the buzzer to put the Cavaliers up 11-8 after one.
The Cavaliers continued to lead through the second quarter, but by no more than five points as a three-pointer from Alyssa Walker and a three-point play from Dixon twice brought the Pioneers within a point. A foul shot by King with 22 seconds left in the quarter would close the scoring for the half as UVA Wise went up 23-21 at intermission.
Vanzant led the Cavaliers with eight points and four rebounds in the first half as UVA Wise shot 30.8 percent (8-for-26) from the field and turned the ball over 13 times. King added six, all from the foul line, and three rebounds, while Johnson had five points and six boards in the opening half. Dixon led the Pioneers with nine points in the first half, but Tusculum shot 22.9 percent (8-for-35) from the field as a team and 2-for-11 from beyond the arc.
Tusculum tied the game at 23-23 on a fast-break layup from Patty in the opening minute of the third quarter, part of a four-minute stretch where Patty hit three layups off feeds from Sophie Henry, the latter giving the Pioneers a 29-26 lead with 6:14 left. Tusculum took its largest lead at 34-28 with 5:28 to go following a three-pointer from Arnwine and a fast-break layup by Walker. However, Caitlyn Ross would hit back-to-back three-pointers for the Cavaliers to tie the game at 34-34 with 2:04 left in the period. Belton would put Tusculum back ahead with a jumper with 1:38 to play, but a steal and layup by Vanzant and a coast-to-coast layup by Jaymi Golden in the final 40 seconds would give the Cavaliers a 39-36 lead heading to the final period.
The Cavaliers would stretch their lead to 43-38 on a basket by Golden with 8:58 remaining, but a three-pointer from Henry and two free throws by Patty tied the game at 43-43 with 7:47 remaining. The Pioneers would also tie the game at 45 and at 47 on buckets by Belton and Dixon, respectively, but a layup by Johnson with 6:01 left sparked a run of eight straight points for the Cavaliers. During that run, Tusculum was 0-for-4 from the field with a turnover while Johnson and Burger scored four points apiece. Tusculum tried to fight back as Arnwine hit a three with 2:56 to go and Patty drilled one with 1:01 left to cut the UVA Wise lead to 59-53. But, the Cavaliers would go 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final 43 seconds, including four from Vanzant, to close out the win and finish a sweep of the season series with the Pioneers. Patty sank a 30-footer on the run just before time expired to set the final score.
Henry finished the game with a career-high eight assists to go along with three points, three rebounds and two steals in 40 minutes of playing time. Rogers finished with three points and four rebounds and Arnwine had nine points and four rebounds before fouling out in the final minute for the Pioneers. Ross also fought foul trouble and played 27 minutes for the Cavaliers, finishing with eight points, six rebounds, four assists and a steal.
UVA Wise committed 21 turnovers which Tusculum turned into 19 points, while the Pioneers had 14 turnovers which were converted into 16 points by the Cavaliers. Tusculum grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, which led to 10 second-chance points, and the Pioneers had an 18-8 edge in fast break points over the Cavaliers in the game.
Tusculum will visit Anderson on Saturday at 2 p.m. for the final game of the regular season. The Trojans (18-9, 18-5 SAC) are locked into fourth place in the conference standings and will host Limestone in the quarterfinal round next Wednesday. Anderson was idle on Wednesday after having its nine-game winning streak snapped by Catawba on Saturday by a 58-46 score. The Trojans beat the Pioneers 80-55 at Pioneer Arena in the first meeting of the season on Jan. 26.
