EMORY, Va. --- Breanna Yarber scored a school-record 38 points to lead Emory & Henry College to a 93-82 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball Wednesday afternoon at the King Center.
Hannah Spainhour added 18 points and Emma Santoro finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Wasps (7-6, 2-3 SAC), who went on an 11-0 run midway through the fourth quarter after the Pioneers took their only lead of the game with eight minutes remaining. Gracyn Hall had seven points and a game-high 13 rebounds for the Wasps.
Faith Silva led the Pioneers (3-8, 1-4 SAC) with a season-high 21 points on seven three-pointers, including the 300th of her collegiate career. Ni'Kiah Chesterfield added 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds and Monique Shim scored 10 points in her Tusculum debut. Carleigh Wilson also reached double figures with 10 points for the Pioneers, who shot 42.9 percent (30-for-70) from the field but drilled a season-high 12 three-pointers.
Yarber shot 17-for-26 from the field and added five rebounds and seven steals in 36 minutes for Emory & Henry. She scored 18 points in the opening quarter and added 12 in the fourth for the Wasps, who outscored the Pioneers 22-10 over the final eight minutes after seeing a nine-point third quarter lead slip away.
Silva shot 7-for-12 from three-point range for the Pioneers, becoming the first Tusculum player to make seven threes in a game since Aliyah Miller at Mars Hill on Feb. 10, 2021. Chesterfield was 6-for-10 from the field and 4-for-4 at the foul line for the Pioneers, while both Shim and Wilson hit a pair of threes for the Pioneers.
The Wasps never trailed in the first quarter, thanks to Yarber who shot 8-for-9 from the field and scored 18 points. Yarber finished the quarter with a personal 10-3 run, broken only by a three-pointer from the Pioneers' Jordyn Roderick with 1:04 left in the quarter. Emory & Henry led 22-13 after the opening period.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Silva to start the second quarter brought the Pioneers within 22-19, and a three-pointer from Shim cut the margin to 24-22 in the opening minute of the period. The teams would trade baskets for the next four minutes before the Wasps went up 40-32 with 3:29 remaining in the half following back-to-back threes from Spainhour and Santoro. Tusculum would close the half with seven points in the final 75 seconds, capped by a three-pointer from Wilson that left the Pioneers trailing 45-41 at intermission.
Yarber led all players with 22 points in the first half on 10-for-15 shooting, while Spainhour added 11 points for the Wasps. Emory & Henry shot 46.2 percent (18-for-39) from the field and had 11 of their 22 rebounds on the offensive glass. Chesterfield led the Pioneers with eight points as 11 of the 13 players who took to the court for Tusculum scored at least one field goal. The Pioneers were 45.7 percent (16-for-35) from the floor in the half and 5-for-13 from three-point range as a team.
In the third quarter, two free throws by Chesterfield brought the Pioneers within 49-48 with 7:48 remaining, but the Wasps answered with a 13-5 run over the next 2 1/2 minutes to take a 62-53 lead on two free throws from Spainhour with 4:28 left. Tusculum was able to whittle the deficit back down to 68-64 on a Wilson layup in the final minute of the period.
A Yarber layup on the first possession of the fourth quarter gave the Wasps a 70-64 lead, but back-to-back three-pointers from Shim and Silva tied the score at 70-70 with 8:54 remaining. A layup by Chesterfield gave the Pioneers their first and only lead of the day at 72-71 with 8:02 remaining, but the Wasps answered with 11 straight points including six from Yarber to take an 82-72 lead with 4:10 left. Silva would hit two more three-pointers in the final four minutes, but the Wasps' lead never dipped below seven points.
Tusculum was 10-for-10 from the foul line in the game, going perfect from the stripe for the first time since making 12-for-12 against Milligan on Dec. 31, 2022. Emory & Henry was 21-for-24 from the foul line, including 15-for-16 in the second half.
The Pioneers finished the game with 22 turnovers, which led to 27 points for the Wasps. Emory & Henry finished the game with 15 steals as a team and outscored Tusculum 44-26 in the paint. Tusculum had 25 fast break points in the contest to 13 for Emory & Henry, while both teams finished with 41 rebounds.
Artasia Cole had two points and a season-high five rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers, while Maddison Zugna contributed six points and four rebounds. Rhyan Harris led the Emory & Henry bench with eight points in 14 minutes.
Tusculum will try and snap its five-game losing streak on Saturday, Jan. 6 at Wingate, beginning at 2 p.m. The Bulldogs brought a 7-4 overall record and a 2-1 SAC mark into its Wednesday game at Newberry.
