JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. --- Braelyn Wykle scored a career-high 39 points and Carson-Newman University survived three potential game-winning shot attempts from Tusculum University as the Eagles outlasted the Pioneers 83-81 in double overtime in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball Wednesday evening from Holt Fieldhouse.
The Eagles (10-6, 5-2 SAC) won their fifth straight conference game and moved into a tie atop the SAC Mountain Division standings with the Pioneers (14-3, 5-2 SAC), who lost their second road overtime game in a week in a matchup of teams both ranked in the D2SIDA Southeast Region poll this week. The contest featured 14 ties and 19 lead changes, with the last coming on a basket by Wykle with 1:03 remaining in the second overtime period.
Jami Tham set a school record with her 17th straight double-double as she finished with 25 points and a game-high 19 rebounds for the Pioneers, while Mya Belton battled through foul trouble to hit a career-high six three-pointers and score a season-best 24 points to go along with nine rebounds. Blayre Shultz added 14 points, including a tying three-point play near the end of the first overtime, while Deidre Cheremond had 10 points in 11 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers. Sophie Henry added six points, six rebounds and 10 assists for Tusculum, which turned the ball over 18 times leading to 24 points for Carson-Newman.
Campbell Penland finished with 18 points for the Eagles and Tori Rutherford had 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds off the bench for Carson-Newman, which did not lead by any more than four points in the game and overcame a five-point deficit in the final 75 seconds of regulation to force overtime.
Wykle shot 15-for-28 from the field, including 5-for-10 from three-point range, and hit 4-for-4 from the foul line while adding seven rebounds and two assists in 48 minutes. Carson-Newman went 9-for-31 from beyond the arc in the game (29.0 percent) and was 28-for-77 (36.4 percent) from the field, but went 18-for-19 from the foul line including 6-for-6 in overtime.
Tham's double-double broke the previous Pioneer record of 16 straight double-doubles set by Maddie Sutton during the 2020-21 season. Tham is now tied for fifth on the Tusculum single-season double-double list with Susan Starnes (1993-94) and extended her lead among all active Division II players with her 50th career double-double. Her 19 rebounds were one shy of her career high of 20 set against Emory & Henry on Dec. 14, while her six assists were one off her career best of seven set against Mount Olive on March 4, 2021.
Belton picked up her fourth foul midway through the fourth quarter but was able to play the final five minutes of regulation and all 10 minutes of overtime without fouling out. She shot 6-for-10 from three-point range to surpass her previous career high of five three-pointers set four times, while her 24 points were one off her career best of 25 set at Mars Hill on Feb. 10, 2021.
Tusculum shot 39.2 percent (29-for-74) from the field and hit 9-for-24 (37.5 percent) from three-point range, marking the first time this season that the Pioneers lost a game in which they outshot their opponent. Both teams finished the game with 45 rebounds, with Carson-Newman turning the ball over 15 times which led to 20 points by Tusculum.
Tusculum ran out to a 14-6 lead after 5 1/2 minutes as Tham hit four of her first six shots from the field and scored seven straight points for the Pioneers. Carson-Newman started 2-for-10 from the field and went more than three minutes without a basket until a layup by Wykle with 3:21 left in the quarter. Wykle would score eight straight for the Eagles to cut the Tusculum lead to 19-16 in the final minute of the quarter, but a putback from Tham gave her 11 points and the Pioneers a 21-16 lead after one period.
Wykle extended her field-goal streak to seven in a row, the last tying the game at 23-23 with 6:00 left in the opening half. She would add two foul shots to give the Eagles a 25-23 lead with 5:21 left in the half. Tusculum would regain the lead at 28-27 on a three-pointer by Henry with 4:20 to play in the half, but a jumper from Penland knotted the game at 31-31 with 1:36 to go in the half. A three-pointer from Belton and a layup from Tham stretched the Tusculum lead to 36-31 with 44 seconds left in the half, and the Pioneers carried a 36-33 lead to intermission.
Tham led the Pioneers with 15 points on 7-for-15 shooting in the first half along with 10 rebounds, while Belton hit three three-pointers and finished with 11 points. Tusculum shot 40 percent (14-for-35) from the field and had a 22-17 edge in rebounding over Carson-Newman. Wykle led the Eagles with 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting but Carson-Newman shot 35.3 percent (12-for-34) from the field and 2-for-12 from three-point range in the opening half.
Penland scored five straight points to give the Eagles a 40-38 lead with 6:38 left in the third quarter, but Belton answered with her fourth three of the evening to put the Pioneers back up 41-40 on the next trip. Belton would pick up her fourth foul with 4:37 left in the third quarter as Wykle scored seven in a row to give the Eagles a 47-43 lead with 3:46 to go in the period. Cheremond, who came in for the first time when Belton picked up her fourth foul, would go on a personal 6-0 run which included four foul shots and a layup that gave Tusculum a 49-47 lead with 2:26 to play in the period. Shultz hit a three-pointer with 52 seconds left in the quarter as the Pioneers went up 54-50 heading to the fourth.
Carson-Newman would open the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run, including three-pointers from Wykle and Keeleigh Rogers which gave the Eagles a 58-56 lead with 8:34 left. Two foul shots from Cheremond would put the Pioneers back up 62-60 with 5:34 to play, but a driving layup by Harli Smith tied the game at 62-62 with 5:03 to go. After a nearly three-minute scoring drought for both teams, the Pioneers broke the tie at 64-62 on a layup by Shultz with 2:15 to play. Belton hit her fifth three with 1:24 left for a 67-62 lead, but Wykle responded with a three-pointer with 1:14 remaining to bring the Eagles back within 67-65. Two free throws from Penland with 19.9 seconds remaining tied the game at 67-67, and the Pioneers could not get a good look in the final moments as the teams went to overtime.
Belton hit the first field goal of overtime, but Wykle connected on her fifth three-pointer with 3:54 left for a 70-69 Carson-Newman lead. Tham made one of two free throws with 3:30 remaining to knot the game at 70-70, but Wykle answered again to put the Eagles on top 72-70 with 3:18 to play. Belton responded with 2:56 to go for a 72-72 tie, but Rutherford hit a three-pointer with 2:37 remaining for a 75-72 Carson-Newman lead with 2:37 to go. Tham sank two foul shots to bring the Pioneers back within 75-74 with 2:06 left, but Wykle sank two free throws with 44.7 seconds left to stretch the Eagles' lead to 77-74. A three-point play from Shultz with 32.5 seconds left tied the game at 77-77, and a drawn charge by Alyssa Walker with 4.6 seconds left gave the Pioneers a final chance that came up empty.
Belton nailed her sixth three with 3:49 left in the second overtime to give the Pioneers an 80-77 lead, and after two foul shots by Smith, Tham would hit one of two at the line with 3:16 left for an 81-79 Tusculum lead. Two free throws from Penland with 2:45 left evened the score at 81-81, and Wykle would put the Eagles on top 83-81 with 1:03 remaining. Tusculum would miss twice on its next possession, but a turnover by the Eagles with 7.6 seconds left gave the Pioneers a third chance for the win that went off-target with four seconds to go.
Tusculum's last double-overtime game was also against Carson-Newman, a 69-66 loss to the Eagles at Pioneer Arena on Jan. 20, 2021. The Pioneers have lost their last three overtime games since an 88-84 double-overtime win at Lenoir-Rhyne on Jan. 29, 2020.
Tusculum will host Wingate (11-4, 4-2 SAC) on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Pioneer Arena. The Bulldogs routed Anderson 86-51 Wednesday night for their third win in four games this month.
