GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Senior forward Rainey Story scored a season-high 21 points, but Wingate University held off a late Pioneer rally to defeat Tusculum College 79-72 in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon inside Pioneer Arena.
Sophomore guard Maelyn Cutshaw scored 11 points for TC (0-4, 0-2 SAC) on four-of-nine shooting from the field. Junior forward Kristen McMillion scored seven points while pulling down a team-high 11 rebounds and tallying a game-high four blocks. Junior guard Shynese Whitener dished out a team-high five assists to go with six points and three steals.
Wingate (1-3, 1-1) led by as many as 21 in the first half, but an 11-0 second-half run helped the Pioneers cut into the deficit, and they trailed by only four (63-59) with 6:19 to play in the game. The Bulldogs' Kelli Bonner quickly answered the TC run with a three-pointer, and WU increased its lead back to eight with 3:37 to play.
However, the resilient Pioneers used a 4-0 run on free throws by senior guard Blakely Burleson and sophomore forward Jessica Hairston to cut the Wingate advantage to 74-70 with just 44 seconds left on the clock. Wingate's Brittany Hill scored the game's next three points at the foul line to put the Bulldog lead at 77-70 with 29 seconds to play. Cutshaw hit a mid-range jumper to make the score 77-72, but that would be the final Pioneer points as the Bulldogs hit two more free-throws to seal the nine-point victory.
Wingate's Morgan McGee scored a game-high 30 points and recorded a double-double with a game-high 12 rebounds. Bonner finished with 13 points, while Hill dished out a game-high six assists while scoring six points.
TC held a narrow 36-34 advantage in points in the paint while Wingate held a narrow 44-42 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 17 turnovers compared to 21 by the Pioneers, while each team scored 20 points off those turnovers. TC had a 14-11 advantage in fast break points, and WU had a 19-14 advantage in second chance points.
Tusculum will be back in action on Tuesday (Nov. 25) when they head to Brevard for their first SAC road contest. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
