YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. --- Maddison Zugna scored 20 points and added nine rebounds and Tusculum University survived two Young Harris College possessions in the final 30 seconds to hold on for a 70-69 victory Wednesday night in women's basketball at the Harp Recreation & Commencement Center.
Aaliyah Vananda added a career-high 16 points and came up with five steals, including one in the closing seconds, as the Pioneers (2-3) won despite going scoreless for the final four minutes and without a field goal for the last 5:12 of the game.
Zugna, who had scored exactly 12 points in each of the Pioneers' first four games, shot 8-for-13 from the field and 4-for-6 from the foul line in 25 minutes off the Tusculum bench. Vananda was 6-for-12 from the floor, with two three-pointers, and had six rebounds and just one turnover in 23 minutes for the Pioneers.
Tusculum had a season-low 12 turnovers in the win, but went 0-for-14 from three-point range in the second half and finished the game 6-for-29 (20.7 percent) from beyond the arc. The Pioneers shot 36.6 percent (26-for-71) but had 14 offensive rebounds which they turned into 15 second-chance points.
The Mountain Lions (3-4) used just eight players in the game, but six of them finished in double figures between 10 and 12 points, including all five starters. Trinity Edwards, who scored 27 points in last week's 80-66 Young Harris win at Pioneer Arena, was held to 13 points on 5-for-16 shooting along with seven rebounds, while Dustie Obah had 12 points and six boards.
Young Harris shot 38.9 percent (21-for-54) from the field and 20-for-23 (87 percent) from the foul line, while outrebounding Tusculum by a 40-36 margin. The Mountain Lions committed 17 turnovers in the game and had their bench outscored 34-13 by Tusculum's bench.
Ni'Kiah Chesterfield, who started at the post ahead of Zugna, also reached double figures for the Pioneers with 10 points and four rebounds in 15 minutes of playing time. Jenna Kallenberg hit three three-pointers in the first half for the Pioneers and added nine points, while Carleigh Wilson and Delana DeBusk shared the team lead and each set season highs with five assists.
Vananda hit a pair of three-pointers in the opening two minutes for the Pioneers, and a driving layup by Simona Henshaw pushed Tusculum in front 13-10 with 4:11 left in the opening quarter. Three-pointers from Kallenberg and Wilson would help give Tusculum a 21-19 lead after one quarter.
Kallenberg would hit back-to-back threes to start the second quarter to push the Tusculum lead to 27-19 before a layup from Frederick snapped the Pioneers' 9-0 run with 7:50 to go in the first half. Young Harris would get consecutive threes from Lilly Griffith, Taylor Gardner and JaMari Frederick to regain the lead at 32-31 with 4:34 remaining. The Mountain Lions' lead would grow to 41-37 on a three-pointer from Frederick with 1:16 to go, and Young Harris would carry a 41-39 lead to halftime.
Kallenberg led the Pioneers with nine points in the first half while Zugna and Vananda added eight apiece. Tusculum shot 42.4 percent (14-for-33) from the field and went 6-for-15 (40 percent) from three-point range in the half, while Young Harris was 15-for-35 (42.9 percent) overall and 5-for-10 from long range. Frederick led the Mountain Lions with 10 points with nine from Gardner and eight from Edwards.
Tusculum opened the second half with consecutive baskets from Vananda and Chesterfield to regain the lead at 43-41, but Young Harris would score six straight points to go up 47-43 on a three-pointer by Griffith with 6:58 left in the quarter. However, Tusculum battled back to regain the lead at 53-50 with 3:19 to go on a layup from Zugna and two free throws by Vananda. After two free throws from Obah tied the game with 26 seconds left in the quarter, Zugna put the Pioneers ahead 58-56 with three seconds to go.
The Pioneers scored on their first three possessions of the fourth quarter, with baskets from Faith Silva, Vananda and Chesterfield giving the Pioneers a 64-58 lead with 7:59 remaining. Young Harris would creep back within 64-62 with 5:54 to play, but buckets from Zugna and Vananda stretched the Pioneers' lead back to 68-62 with 5:12 to go.
After two free throws by Zugna with 4:07 remaining, the Pioneers would go scoreless the rest of the game while the Mountain Lions pulled within 70-69 on a basket by Edwards with 54 seconds to go. A missed three-pointer from Tusculum would give Young Harris a chance at the win, but the Mountain Lions missed twice and the Pioneers got the rebound with 12 seconds to go. Young Harris got a final chance after two missed free throws from Tusculum, but Vananda knocked the ball away from a driving Edwards and time expired with the ball loose on the floor.
Frederick finished with 10 points in 24 minutes before fouling out in the fourth quarter, while Gardner and Magdalene Adebanjo each had 10 points for the Mountain Lions. Griffith reached double figures with 11 points on 3-for-5 from three-point range, and also had seven rebounds for Young Harris.
Tusculum will open its South Atlantic Conference schedule on Saturday, Dec. 2 against Anderson at 2 p.m. at Pioneer Arena. The Trojans, ranked 21st in the WBCA Division II poll and 14th in the D2CSC national poll this week, beat 24th-ranked Augusta 82-76 on the road on Wednesday to improve to 6-0.
