WISE, Va. --- All five starters finished in double figures for UVA Wise, led by 22 points from Caitlyn Ross, as the Cavaliers beat Tusculum University 84-58 in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball Wednesday evening at the Prior Convocation Center.
Katlin Burger made all eight of her field-goal attempts and scored 16 points, while Sarah Burton added 16 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Cavaliers (10-12, 6-8 SAC), who won their eighth consecutive home game. Sable Burnside finished with 12 points and six rebounds and Leah Kestner had 10 points and six boards for UVA Wise, which shot 52.9 percent (18-for-34) from the field in the first half en route to a 48-32 lead at halftime, then went on an 18-0 run in the third quarter.
Maddison Zugna led the Pioneers (3-17, 1-13 SAC) with 13 points in 16 minutes off the bench, with Ni'Kiah Chesterfield also reaching double figures with 11 points. The Pioneers shot 37.7 percent (23-for-61) from the field in the game and committed 22 turnovers which led to 21 Cavaliers points.
Ross sank five three-pointers and added six rebounds to go along with her game-high 22 points. Burger, who played 32 minutes, also had five rebounds and four assists while Kestner was 4-for-5 from the field in 24 minutes for UVA Wise, which remains a half-game behind Coker and Mars Hill for seventh place in the conference standings.
Zugna reached double figures in scoring for the first time since doing so in each of the first five games of the season. She shot 4-for-9 from the field and sank 5-for-6 from the foul line for the Pioneers and had four rebounds and a blocked shot.
Tusculum did not trail in the first four minutes, scoring the game's first points on a putback by Delana DeBusk and going up 9-6 on a three-pointer by Jenna Kallenberg with 7:11 left in the first quarter. The teams were tied 10-10 after a foul shot by Kallenberg with 4:59 to go in the quarter, but the Cavaliers would score 12 of the next 14 points to go up 22-12 on a jumper by Burger with 1:47 left. A three-point play by Chesterfield with 44 seconds left brought the Pioneers within 22-15 after one quarter.
UVA Wise opened the second quarter with a 22-6 run, with back-to-back three-pointers from Burnside giving the Cavaliers a 44-21 lead with 4:02 left in the first half. The Pioneers scored the last seven points of the quarter on a three-pointer from Carleigh Wilson, a jumper from Jordyn Roderick and a jumper by Diggs at the buzzer to pull within 48-32 at halftime.
Ross and Burton shared the team lead with 10 points apiece in the first half for the Cavaliers, while Burnside, Kestner and Burger had eight points each. In addition to their 52.9 percent shooting from the floor, the Cavs were 5-for-10 from three-point range and 7-for-8 at the foul line. Chesterfield led the Pioneers with nine points in the first half, with five points and four rebounds from Wilson. Tusculum shot 43.3 percent (13-for-30) from the field and 2-for-8 from long range in the half.
A three-pointer from Wilson brought Tusculum within 48-35 in the opening seconds of the third quarter, but the Cavaliers would receive nine points on three three-pointers from Ross during an 18-0 spurt that covered 6 1/2 minutes and left UVA Wise with a 66-35 lead with 2:23 left in the third quarter. Tusculum missed nine straight shots until a basket from Chesterfield snapped the UVA Wise run with 2:11 left.
UVA Wise, which led 70-42 after three quarters, went scoreless for more than 4 1/2 minutes to start the fourth until a three-pointer from Ross with 5:15 to play. Zugna scored nine points and had three rebounds in the final quarter for the Pioneers, while Storm Wilson came off the bench to grab six boards and set a season high.
Carleigh Wilson had eight points and five rebounds for the Pioneers, while Kallenberg finished with seven points and Roderick added six. DeBusk had four rebounds and five assists, while Artasia Cole had four rebounds off the Tusculum bench and Faith Diggs added three boards along with four points. Tusculum pulled 41 rebounds as a team, with 14 on the offensive glass.
Jalie Ruehling led the Cavaliers with a game-high eight rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench as UVA Wise outrebounded Tusculum 45-41 in the game. The Cavaliers ended the game at 42.7 percent (32-for-75) from the floor and 11-for-33 from three-point range.
Tusculum will play four of its final six games at home, starting Saturday, Feb. 10 at 2 p.m. against Wingate at Pioneer Arena. The Bulldogs beat the Pioneers 83-66 at home on Jan. 6, but are coming off a 68-58 home setback to Coker on Wednesday that dropped them to 14-8 overall and a tie for fourth in the SAC at 9-5.
