GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Blayre Shultz led four players in double figures with 19 points as Tusculum University earned its sixth straight victory with a 75-59 win over UVA Wise in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Wednesday evening at Pioneer Arena.
Jami Tham recorded her ninth double-double in as many games with 18 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, Mya Belton added 15 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots and Alyssa Walker contributed 13 points for the Pioneers (8-1, 2-0 SAC), who are receiving votes in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division II national poll and are ranked sixth in the D2SIDA Southeast Region poll this week.
Sophie Henry dished out a career-high 11 assists for the Pioneers, who used a 14-2 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to pull away from the Cavaliers (6-2, 1-1 SAC), who shot 37.5 percent from the field (21-for-56) and committed 22 turnovers which led to 24 points for the Pioneers.
Shultz shot 7-for-17 from the field, including a three-pointer, and went 4-for-6 from the foul line in 39 minutes for the Pioneers. Tham, who leads Division II in double-doubles with nine, shot 7-for-15 from the floor and 3-for-5 from the stripe in 35 minutes. Belton tied her career highs with five three-pointers and five blocked shots before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
Walker, who entered the game ranked second in the SAC in three-point shooting at 52 percent, went 3-for-5 from deep and 5-for-8 overall for the Pioneers, while adding three rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Henry's 11 assists are the most for a Pioneer in nearly five years, since Mia Long had 11 assists at Mars Hill on Jan. 3, 2018.
Josie Hester hit four three-pointers and scored 19 points to lead the Cavaliers, who received 18 points and eight assists from Caitlyn Ross and 10 points and five rebounds from Katlin Burger. UVA Wise was outscored 20-7 on fast-break points and 30-20 in the paint by the Pioneers, who snapped a three-game losing streak to the Cavaliers.
A three-pointer by Walker on the opening possession of the game was answered by nine straight points from the Cavaliers, including a pair of threes from Hester, to give Wise its largest lead at 9-3 just over two minutes into the game. Tusculum would regain the lead at 15-14 on a three-pointer from Walker with 2:02 left in the quarter, and a three from Belton and a foul shot by Tham would leave the Pioneers with a 19-17 advantage after one.
After the Cavaliers would tie the game at 19-19 on a basket by Sable Burnside in the opening minute of the second quarter, the Pioneers would run off 11 straight points which included consecutive threes from Tham, Deidre Cheremond and Walker to go up 30-19 with 5:47 to go in the half. The lead would reach 38-24 on a three-point play by Shultz with 2:54 remaining, but the Cavaliers would score nine straight to end the half including a steal and layup by Ross just before the buzzer.
Walker led Tusculum with 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting in the first half, while Belton had nine points and Tham eight to go along with eight rebounds. The Pioneers shot 45.2 percent (14-for-31) from the field in the half and 8-for-15 from three-point range. Hester led the Cavaliers with 13 points and Ross added 11 along with six rebounds, helping Wise shoot 41.4 percent (12-for-29) from the field and 4-for-10 from long range.
The Cavaliers would cut the deficit to four on a three-pointer by Ross with 7:44 left in the third that would bring UVA Wise within 43-39, but three-pointers from Shultz and Belton and a foul shot from Shultz would push Tusculum's lead back to 50-39 with 5:53 remaining. After a jumper by Hester left Tusculum with a 52-45 lead with 2:53 left in the quarter, the Pioneers would score the final seven points of the period including three-point plays from Shultz and Tham to lead 59-45 after three.
Seven straight points from the Pioneers, including a three from Belton and back-to-back layups by Henry and Tham, would give Tusculum its largest lead at 66-47 with 8:24 to go. UVA Wise would get no closer than 15 as the Cavaliers shot 33.3 percent (9-for-27) from the field in the second half.
Cheremond scored eight points and had three rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers, who finished the game with a 37-35 advantage on the boards over the Cavaliers. Leah Kestner led UVA Wise with six rebounds and three blocked shots in 29 minutes, while Kaitlin Bailey had five rebounds but shot 1-for-10 from the field and finished with three points in 35 minutes for the Cavaliers.
Tusculum, which entered the game ranked ninth in Division II with 9.9 three-pointers per game, was 12-for-27 from beyond the arc. The Pioneers, who lead the nation in assists with 21.1 per game, had 18 assists on 28 field goals against the Cavaliers but turned the ball over 19 times.
The Pioneers will visit Mars Hill for a SAC Mountain Division game on Saturday at 2 p.m. from Stanford Arena. The Lions, who won just one game last season, are off to a 3-4 start which includes wins over Belmont Abbey (69-59) and North Greenville (62-57).
