EMORY, Va. --- Mya Belton scored a game-high 20 points, including 13 in the second half, as Tusculum University rallied for a 57-52 victory at Emory & Henry College in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Wednesday evening.
Jami Tham recorded her 22nd consecutive double-double with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds and Blayre Shultz added 12 points for the Pioneers (17-4, 8-4 SAC), who trailed by nine points at halftime but held the Wasps (7-13, 4-8 SAC) to 22.9 percent shooting in the second half to snap a two-game losing streak, finish a sweep of the season series and remain in second place in the SAC Mountain Division standings, a half-game ahead of Limestone.
Breanna Yarber led the Wasps with 15 points and Taylor Owens added nine points off the bench, while Emma Santoro had eight points and a team-high nine rebounds. Emory & Henry forced 21 Tusculum turnovers but could only convert into 15 points, while the Wasps were outrebounded 43-33 by the Pioneers. Emory & Henry finished the game at 33.8 percent (22-for-65) from the field and just 2-for-3 from the foul line, while Tusculum was 41.8 percent (23-for-55) from the field and 5-for-12 at the stripe.
Tham's double-double was the 54th of her collegiate career and moved her within two of tying the Division II record of 24 consecutive double-doubles, shared by Vanessa Wilt of Cal State-San Bernardino (2007-08) and Jamiyah Johnson of Davis & Elkins (2019-20). Tham also tied Susan Starnes (1995-96) for the Tusculum program single-season record of 22 double-doubles, and moved into fourth place on the program career list behind Starnes (80), Stephany Neptune (36) and Maddie Sutton (30).
Belton shot 4-for-9 from three-point range and hit the clinching foul shots with 2.3 seconds remaining for her fourth 20-point game of the season. Off the bench, Deidre Cheremond had eight points and nine rebounds in 19 minutes for the Pioneers, while Shultz had three assists and three steals to lead the Pioneers to go along with her 12 points.
Tusculum scored the first bucket of the game on a layup by Belton as Emory & Henry missed its first four shots from the field. A three-pointer by Hannah Spainhour would trigger a run of four straight baskets from the Wasps as a Santoro jumper put Emory & Henry up 11-9 with 4:52 left in the first quarter. The Wasps went up 15-11 on a layup by Owens with 2:13 remaining in the quarter, and a layup by Cheremond in the final seconds would bring the Pioneers back within 18-15 after Chelsi Hodges nailed a three to put the Wasps up by five.
In the second quarter, the Pioneers would go 2 1/2 minutes without a point with seven straight missed shots while the Wasps went ahead 29-21 on a layup by Yarber with 4:16 to play in the half. Cheremond would break the drought with a layup with 3:01 remaining, but a basket from Santoro and a three-pointer from Yarber helped push the Wasps to a 34-25 lead at halftime.
Tham led the Pioneers with eight points while Belton added seven, but Tusculum shot 40 percent (12-for-30) and went 1-for-9 from three-point range. Tusculum, which was 0-for-4 at the foul line, turned the ball over 10 times in the half but received six points and four rebounds from Cheremond in 12 minutes off the bench. Yarber led the Wasps with nine points and five rebounds while Santoro had six points and six rebounds and Spainhour added seven points. Emory & Henry shot 46.7 percent (14-for-30) from the field and 4-for-7 from long range, while scoring nine points off Tusculum's turnovers.
Tusculum would hit its first five shots of the third quarter, with five points from Belton and back-to-back baskets from Tham part of a 9-0 run that brought the Pioneers into a 34-34 tie with 5:47 left in the quarter. Emory & Henry missed its first eight shots from the field, but used consecutive buckets from Santoro and Owens to go back up 38-34 with 5:13 left. Tusculum pulled within 41-39 on a layup by Shultz with 2:51 remaining in the quarter, but baskets from Grace Glance and Mimi Traynham put Emory & Henry ahead 45-39 with 1:40 to go in the quarter. Tusculum shot 7-for-11 from the field in the third quarter, but turned the ball over eight times as Emory & Henry led 45-42 heading to the fourth.
A three-pointer from Belton on the first possession of the fourth quarter tied the game at 45-45, and two free throws from Tham gave Tusculum its first lead since 6-5 with 9:02 left. Traynham's second three of the half put the Wasps back up 48-47 with 8:40 left, but the Pioneers ran off seven straight points, including a three-pointer from Alyssa Walker with 5:56 to play, to go up 54-48. Yarber would break the Wasps' drought at 5 1/2 minutes on a bucket with 3:09 left, and she would add another hoop with 2:09 to go to bring the Wasps within 54-52.
Shultz would go 1-for-2 at the foul line with 18.9 seconds remaining after Belton came up with a steal in the final 30 seconds, and the Wasps would misfire on a potential game-tying three-pointer with four seconds to play. Belton would make two free throws with 2.3 seconds remaining to set the final score as Emory & Henry shot 3-for-16 from the field in the fourth quarter.
Spainhour finished with seven points on 3-for-10 shooting for the Wasps, while Amaya Lee tallied three points along with five assists and four steals with only one turnover in 35 minutes. The Emory & Henry bench outscored Tusculum's bench by a 17-8 margin, led by nine from Owens and five by Traynham.
Tusculum will be idle on Saturday before returning to action on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at UVA Wise. The Cavaliers (13-10, 4-8 SAC) were upset 66-57 by Mars Hill at home Wednesday night for their fourth straight loss. Tusculum beat UVA Wise 75-59 in their first meeting of the season on Dec. 7 at Pioneer Arena behind 19 points from Shultz and 18 points and 16 rebounds from Tham.
