GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Trinity Edwards led all players with 27 points and nine rebounds as Young Harris College defeated Tusculum University 80-68 in non-conference women's basketball Tuesday night at Pioneer Arena.
Taylor Gardner added 11 of her 16 points in the second half for the Mountain Lions (2-3), who snapped a three-game losing streak by shooting 52.9 percent (27-for-51) from the field and 21-for-26 (80.8 percent) from the foul line in the game.
Faith Silva and Carleigh Wilson scored 14 points apiece and Maddison Zugna added 12 points off the bench for the Pioneers (1-2), who trailed by 10 points in the second quarter before briefly taking the lead in the third quarter on a three-pointer by Silva. However, the Mountain Lions scored the next seven points to regain the lead and held it the remainder of the game.
Tusculum, playing its 2023-24 home opener, shot 45.6 percent (26-for-57) from the field in the game, but a 17-for-27 performance (63.0 percent) in the first and fourth quarters was offset by 30 percent shooting (9-for-30) in the second and third periods.
Edwards shot 11-for-16 from the field and 5-for-5 from the foul line in 36 minutes for Young Harris, while Gardner was 7-for-8 from the stripe. The Mountain Lions hit four of their five three-pointers in the second half and went 13-for-14 as a team at the line after halftime.
Both teams struggled to hang on to the basketball, as Tusculum finished with 26 turnovers and Young Harris had 23. The Mountain Lions scored 33 points off the 26 Pioneer miscues, while Tusculum converted the 23 Young Harris turnovers into 29 points.
Young Harris made its first five shots from the field, but had seven turnovers in that span as a 7-0 Tusculum run gave the Pioneers a 14-11 lead following a three-pointer from Aaliyah Vananda with 4:22 left in the quarter. Baskets by Ni'Kiah Chesterfield and Silva in the final 65 seconds of the first quarter gave the Pioneers a 22-20 lead after one period.
A Mountain Lions run that began at the end of the first quarter extended to 15-0 as the Pioneers missed four straight shots and had four turnovers in a stretch of 3 1/2 minutes. A layup by Crystal Corley gave the Mountain Lions their largest lead of the half at 32-22 with 7:19 left, and the Pioneers would get no closer than four following a three-pointer from Silva with 1:23 left. Edwards converted a three-point play with 19 seconds left to give Young Harris a 41-34 lead at halftime.
Edwards led all players with 17 points in the first half for the Mountain Lions, while Corley added 11 points and five rebounds as Young Harris shot 61.5 percent (16-for-26) from the field and had 12 fast-break points. Eight different Pioneers scored in the first half, with Silva leading the team with eight points and six from Zugna. Tusculum shot 44.1 percent (15-for-34) from the field and both teams ended the half with 17 turnovers.
Young Harris started the second half by missing its first five shots, while Tusculum scored nine straight points including back-to-back buckets from Wilson and a three-pointer from Silva that put the Pioneers ahead 43-41 with 5:58 left in the quarter. Two straight baskets from Edwards and Kamryn Bates and a three-pointer by JaMari Frederick would put Young Harris back in front 48-43 with 3:57 to go in the quarter, and a three-pointer from Lilly Griffith just before the buzzer stretched the Mountain Lions' lead to 55-47 entering the fourth.
The Mountain Lions scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to build a 13-point lead at 60-47, and the Pioneers would get no closer than eight following a layup from Zugna with 3:22 left that brought Tusculum within 67-59. Young Harris would make its final nine free-throw attempts in the final 53 seconds to secure the win.
Zugna shot 6-for-8 from the field and had three rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers, while Storm Wilson added seven points and five boards and Lexi Patty had two points along with seven rebounds and four assists. Chesterfield made all three of her field-goal attempts and finished with eight points.
Young Harris finished with a slim 31-30 advantage in rebounding over Tusculum, with the Pioneers grabbing 11 offensive rebounds. Tusculum's bench outscored the Young Harris reserves by a 23-13 margin.
Tusculum will be home on Saturday, Nov. 25 to face Georgia Southwestern for the first time. The Hurricanes, the defending Peach Belt Conference champions and NCAA Southeast Region finalist in 2022-23, are off to a 2-1 start which included a season-opening 62-58 win over Carson-Newman and an 86-34 rout of Talladega on Tuesday night.
