DAHLONEGA, Ga. --- Four players reached double figures as Tusculum University picked up an 83-66 victory over Clayton State University Saturday afternoon in women's basketball at the Nighthawk Classic in the UNG Convocation Center.
Faith Silva hit five three-pointers and scored 19 points, Carleigh Wilson added a career-best 14 points off the bench and post players Maddison Zugna and Ni'Kiah Chesterfield combined for 22 points for the Pioneers (1-1), who gave head coach Roger Hodge his first victory at Tusculum and the 295th of his career.
Nina Blade led the Lakers (0-4) with 14 points, but Clayton State turned the ball over 29 times and shot 39.4 percent (26-for-66) from the field. The Lakers had a 46-33 rebound advantage over Tusculum, led by seven rebounds from Jasmyn Butts who also had 10 points.
Silva was 5-for-9 from long range for the Pioneers, who shot 11-for-23 (47.8 percent) from beyond the arc in the game and shot 47.9 percent (34-for-71) overall in the game. Tusculum was 9-for-12 from the field in the fourth quarter, part of an 18-4 run during a 7 1/2 minute span of the final period.
Zugna shot 6-for-9 from the field and had 12 points and four rebounds in 19 minutes, while Chesterfield contributed 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting to go along with a team-high six rebounds in 16 minutes of action. Jenna Kallenberg hit three three-pointers and finished with nine points, and Faith Diggs chipped in with seven points along with six from Aaliyah Vananda.
The Pioneers fell behind 7-0 after 2 1/2 minutes and missed their first five shots from the field until Silva made a three-pointer with 7:29 left in the opening quarter. Trailing 13-5, the Pioneers closed the opening quarter on a 15-2 run, including six points from Chesterfield and five from Carleigh Wilson, to take a 20-15 lead after one quarter. Clayton State missed its final seven shots of the quarter and had four turnovers over the final 3 1/2 minutes.
Clayton State clawed back to within 27-26 on a three-point play from Zoe Wiltz with 6:19 left in the first half, and tied the game at 31-31 on a layup by Blade with 3:20 to go in the half. Tusculum would take the lead for good on a three-pointer from Kallenberg, and a three-pointer from Silva stretched the Pioneer lead to 39-33 with 1:48 remaining in the half. A three from Diggs with 27 seconds left sent Tusculum to the locker room with a 42-35 lead.
Silva led the Pioneers with 10 points in the first half, with Diggs and Carleigh Wilson collecting eight points apiece. Tusculum shot 42.5 percent (17-for-40) from the field and went 6-for-15 from three-point range in the half. Blade scored eight points to lead the Lakers in the first half, with Clayton State shooting 38.7 percent (12-for-31) but turning the ball over 15 times.
In the third quarter, Clayton State pulled within 42-39 on back-to-back baskets from Blade in the opening 90 seconds, but Zugna responded with four straight to push Tusculum's lead to 46-39 with 7:58 left in the third. After the Lakers moved within 48-45 on a layup by Aaliyah Reid with 5:20 remaining, Carleigh Wilson and Silva hit back-to-back threes to stretch Tusculum's lead to 54-45 with 4:23 left in the quarter. The Pioneer lead would reach double digits at 60-49 on two free throws by Vananda with 1:39 left, and Tusculum would take a 61-52 lead into the fourth.
The Pioneers' lead would dip to five points at 65-50 following a basket from Burts with 7:52 remaining, but Tusculum went on a 7-0 run that was capped by another Silva three-pointer for a 72-60 lead with 5:29 remaining. The Pioneers would add a 9-0 run in the final four minutes before the Lakers closed out the game with two free throws with 12 seconds left.
Tusculum's defense came up with 14 steals in the game, led by three from Vananda and two apiece from Silva, Kallenberg and Lexi Patty. The Pioneers scored 25 points off Clayton State turnovers, while the Tusculum bench outscored the Lakers' reserves by a 39-19 margin.
The Pioneers will play their home opener against Young Harris on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Pioneer Arena. The Mountain Lions have lost three straight since winning their season opener, including a 58-56 setback to Lander on Saturday.
