GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum College women's basketball team used a 12-2 second-half run to cut a 15-point halftime deficit to five, but Mars Hill University pulled away late to claim a 78-62 victory over the Pioneers on Wednesday night in Greeneville. Four players scored in double figures for Tusculum (4-12, 4-9 South Atlantic Conference).

Junior guard Shynese Whitener scored 18 points for the second-straight game to lead the Pioneer offense. Senior guard Blakeley Burleson, sophomore guard Maelyn Cutshaw, and senior forward Rainey Story each tallied 13 points. Burleson was 4-of-9 from behind the arc while Story was a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw stripe. Junior forward Kristen McMillion and Story each had a team-high eight rebounds apiece.

Mars Hill (7-11, 5-8 SAC) guard Camille Glymph led all scorers with 27 points while Kelsey Esplinosa registered a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. The Lions held a 47-36 rebounding edge, including 20 offensive boards which led to 23 second-chance points. MHU also forced 21 Tusculum turnovers and turned them into 23 points.

TC jumped out to an early 7-2 lead with the help of a three-pointer by Burleson and four-straight points by Cutshaw. Later in the half, Mars Hill erased a 20-15 deficit with five-unanswered points to tie the game at 20 with eight minutes to play before the break. The Lions took their first lead of the game at 24-22 off a layup by Raven Brown at the 6:47 mark of the first stanza.

Story converted a three-point-play to make the score 30-25 in favor of the Lions with 4:27 remaining in the first half. Those would be the final points for TC in the opening frame, and Mars Hill scored 10-straight to end the half and took a 40-25 lead in the locker room.

Tusculum recorded the first nine points of the second half to trim the lead to 40-34. A jumper by Paige Chavis gave the Lions hit their first points of the half, but Burleson answered with a three to make the score 42-37 with 16:26 remaining. After McMillion hit a free-throw to cut the Lion lead to just four, MHU answered with a 13-2 run to earn back their 15-point cushion with the score 59-44 with 11:25 to play.

Glymph scored 15 of her 27 points in the second half, and her jumper with just under six minutes remaining gave the Lions their biggest lead of the game at 69-52. A three pointer by Maelyn Cutshaw cut the lead to 71-61 with 2:26 to play, but the Lions hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the 16-point victory.

Tusculum will return to the court on Saturday (Jan 31) at Queens University of Charlotte to kickoff a three-game road swing. Tipoff against the Royals is set for 1 p.m.

- TC -