GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Brianna Dixon scored a game-high 21 points in her season debut and Mya Belton recorded 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds to lead Tusculum University to a 71-61 victory over Newberry College in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Wednesday evening at Pioneer Arena.
Jalia Arnwine went 5-for-6 from three-point range and added 16 points for the Pioneers (4-7, 2-5 SAC), who scored the game's first 11 points and led by as many as 18 before the Wolves (2-8, 2-6) pulled within 57-55 with six minutes left. However, the Pioneers went 10-for-12 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to lock up their seventh win over the Wolves in the last nine meetings.
Dixon, who missed the first 10 games of the season, was 5-for-14 from the field but shot a career-best 9-for-10 from the foul line. Dixon, who played 34 minutes, added three rebounds and two steals for the Pioneers.
Belton's double-double was her third in her last five games, with her 15 rebounds breaking her previous career high of 12 set against Johnson & Wales on Nov. 22, 2019. Belton has scored in double figures in five straight games, during which she is averaging 14.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots per contest.
Arnwine, who sat out the previous two games, finished one shy of her career high of six three-pointers set against Lincoln Memorial on Feb. 17, 2021. Her 5-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc was a personal career best in accuracy for Arnwine, who played 39 minutes and contributed five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.
Tyla Stolberg led Newberry with 16 points and five rebounds off the bench, while Ericka Wiseley went 5-for-5 from the field and scored 10 points to go along with a team-high six rebounds. The Wolves shot 43.1 percent (22-for-51) from the field but went just 12-for-22 at the foul line and committed 16 turnovers which led to 15 points for the Pioneers.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 40.4 percent from the floor (23-for-57) but 10-for-23 from three-point range. Both Dixon and Belton were 2-for-6 from beyond the arc while Jordan Rogers was 1-for-2 from distance for the Pioneers. Tusculum had a slight 36-35 rebounding advantage over Newberry, but matched their season high with 14 offensive rebounds which were turned into 12 second-chance points.
The Pioneers scored on the first shot of the game as Dixon converted a layup, sparking an 11-0 run over the first 3 1/2 minutes. Belton had five points, Dixon four and Lexi Patty had two during the run, which ended when Stolberg hit two free throws with 6:24 left in the opening quarter. Tusculum would lead by 11 twice more in the quarter, at 17-6 on an Arnwine three with 3:57 to go and at 19-8 following a Patty layup with 1:54 left. The Pioneers led 22-12 after one quarter following a three from Rogers with 19 seconds remaining.
After a free throw from Stolberg brought the Wolves within 22-13 in the opening minute of the second quarter, the Pioneers went on an 8-1 run that included back-to-back threes from Arnwine and a layup by Patty which gave Tusculum a 30-14 lead with 7:07 to go in the half. Tusculum took its largest lead at 36-18 on a Dixon three with 5:04 remaining, but that would be the final field goal of the half for the Pioneers as Tusculum went 0-for-5 from the field with three turnovers in the final 4 1/2 minutes of the half. Newberry would go on a 10-2 run to close the half and pull within 38-28 at intermission.
Arnwine led the Pioneers with 12 points on 4-for-5 from three-point range in the first half, as Tusculum shot 41.2 percent (14-for-34) as a team. Patty had nine points and Dixon added eight for the Pioneers, while Belton had five points and a game-high seven rebounds in the opening half. For Newberry, Stolberg had 14 of her 16 points in the first half and was the only Wolves player with more than one field goal. Newberry shot 36.4 percent (8-for-22) from the field but kept the game close by going 10-for-16 from the foul line.
Tusculum maintained its double-digit lead for most of the third quarter, going up 45-32 on a Belton three-pointer with 8:09 remaining and 50-37 on a Dixon three with 3:33 to go. Once again, Tusculum would go cold after a Dixon three-pointer as the Pioneers finished the quarter 0-for-4 from the floor while Newberry pulled to within 51-44 on a free throw by Mylaysia Gates with 1.1 seconds left in the period.
Back-to-back baskets by Wiseley and Talia Roberts cut the Pioneer lead to 51-48 with 9:22 remaining, but Arnwine's fifth three-pointer of the evening doubled the Tusculum advantage to six. A three-pointer from Holly Davies trimmed the Tusculum lead back to three at 56-53 with 8:04 left, and a layup by Stolberg would make it a 57-55 contest with 6:02 to play. However, back-to-back buckets from Dixon and Deidre Cheremond pushed the Pioneers back in front at 61-55 with 4:57 to go, and the lead would grow in the closing minutes as Newberry missed six of seven shots in a three-minute span.
Patty finished with nine points, three rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes for the Pioneers, while Rogers played 33 minutes off the bench for Tusculum and contributed five points, two assists, two steals and a rebound. Davies hit a pair of three-pointers and finished with nine points, five rebounds and four assists for the Wolves, with Giulia Bongiorno and Roberts adding seven points apiece and Gates chipping in with four points and five rebounds.
Tusculum will finish 2021 with back-to-back road games, starting on Saturday with a visit to Lenoir-Rhyne. The Bears (3-5, 2-4 SAC) snapped a three-game losing streak Wednesday night with a 64-57 victory over Anderson behind 39 points and eight rebounds from guard Emily Harman. The Pioneers have won eight straight meetings with the Bears, including four in a row on the road.
