SALISBURY, N.C. --- Talia Barnes finished with game highs of 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead Catawba College to a 64-51 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Goodman Gymnasium.
Madison Hallman added 14 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Indians (3-3, 1-1 SAC), who ran off 12 straight points while outscoring the Pioneers 19-9 in the decisive second quarter. Catawba finished with a 41-30 edge in rebounding and held Tusculum to 32.1 percent (17-for-53) from the field in the game.
Mia Long paced the Pioneers (4-2, 0-2 SAC) with 14 points, six rebounds and four steals, but Tusculum was unable to offset a 32-15 foul disparity in dropping its second straight game overall and fifth in a row to Catawba. Callie Patterson hit three three-pointers and added nine points and Yolizma Cupidan added eight for the Pioneers in the loss.
Barnes shot 6-for-12 from the field and 8-for-10 from the foul line in 36 minutes for the Indians, who led 36-24 at halftime and finished the game 24-for-34 (70.6 percent) from the foul line. Thirteen of the Indians' 19 second-quarter points came off Pioneer turnovers, as Tusculum gave the ball up 18 times in the game to 20 by Catawba.
Catawba went up 5-2 early but baskets by Long and Martoria Patton gave Tusculum its only lead of the game at 6-5 with 5:29 left in the first quarter. The Indians answered with six points in a row, including a three-pointer by Elizabeth Webb and a three-point play from Shemya Stanbeck to go up 11-6 with 4:16 left in the period. A basket by Cupidan and a three-pointer from Jalia Arnwine tied the game at 11-11 with 2:17 remaining in the quarter, but a three from Hallman helped the Indians go on top 17-15 at the end of the first.
The Indians scored the first five points of the second quarter as the Pioneers went 0-for-4 from the field with three turnovers in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the period. Patterson then hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the Catawba lead to 22-21 with 6:21 left in the half, but Barnes scored eight consecutive points during a 12-0 Indians run that pushed the lead to 34-21 with just under a minute left in the half. Mya Belton hit a three-pointer with just over 30 seconds left to end the Tusculum drought at 5 minutes, 50 seconds, but Catawba carried a 36-24 lead into halftime.
Barnes led all players with 12 points and five rebounds in the first half as Catawba shot 40 percent (10-for-25) from the field and 13-for-18 from the foul line. Tusculum received six points from Patterson and four from Long in the first half, but hit just 10-for-29 (34.5 percent) from the floor and missed all three of its foul shots.
Tusculum opened the third quarter by cutting the deficit to 36-29 on two foul shots by Kendrea Duke and a three-pointer by Long, but back-to-back layups from Taisha DeShazo put the Indians back ahead 40-29 with 7:44 left in the period. Trailing 44-33, the Pioneers went on a quick 6-0 run as a three-pointer from Cupidan brought Tusculum to within 44-39 with 2:06 left in the quarter. However, that would be the final shot attempt of the quarter for the Pioneers as a three-pointer by DeShazo was followed by a turnover and later a foul shot from Hallman which gave the Indians a 48-39 lead heading to the final quarter.
The Pioneers trailed 48-41 after two free throws by Long with 8:52 left, but an 11-0 run by the Indians over the next 4 1/2 minutes gave Catawba its largest lead at 59-41 with 4:27 left. Hallman and DeShazo each had four points during the run, which saw Tusculum miss six straight shots and turn the ball over four times. Long would score the final five points of the game for the Pioneers to break into double figures in the last two minutes.
Despite playing just nine minutes due to extreme foul trouble, Duke tallied six points and four rebounds for the Pioneers. Patton had six points and two rebounds off the bench before leaving the game late in the third quarter. For Catawba, DeShazo finished with 13 points and five rebounds and Mercedes Wampler contributed four points and four rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench.
The Pioneers will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 9 at home against Newberry, with tipoff at 2 p.m.
