GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Braelyn Wykle scored 16 of her game-high 21 points in the second half and Tori Rutherford finished with a triple-double to lead Carson-Newman University to a 96-57 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.
Campbell Penland finished with 17 points and Makayla Alvey came off the bench to score 15 points and pull eight rebounds for the Eagles (7-1, 2-0 SAC), who outscored the Pioneers (3-5, 1-2 SAC) by a 50-22 margin in the second half, including 25-7 in the fourth quarter, to earn their fifth straight win.
Faith Silva led the Pioneers with 13 points and Nae Marion contributed 11 points and nine rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench in her season debut, but Tusculum shot 30.8 percent (20-for-65) from the field and committed 26 turnovers which Carson-Newman turned into 30 points. The Eagles also scored 40 fast-break points in the game and had a 61-41 rebound margin over the Pioneers, including 26 offensive boards which they turned into 19 second-chance points.
Rutherford finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists for the Eagles, securing the triple-double with her 10th rebound of the game with 2:19 remaining. Penland shot 6-for-14 from the field and sank four of the Eagles' 11 three-pointers, while Wykle was just 7-for-18 from the field but hit three threes and went 4-for-5 at the line to finish with 21 points.
For the game, Carson-Newman shot 43 percent (37-for-86) from the floor while holding Tusculum to just 21 percent (7-for-34) from the field in the second half. Tusculum went 2-for-19 in the fourth quarter and missed seven of its eight three-point attempts in the second half.
The teams came out hot, with Tusculum trailing 12-11 after the second three-pointer of the game from Silva with just over three minutes gone in the first quarter. The Eagles would go scoreless for more than 3 1/2 minutes by going 0-for-3 from the field with three turnovers as the Pioneers went up 13-12 on a foul shot by Marion with 3:54 left in the opening period. Carson-Newman would then go on an 11-0 run to take a 23-13 lead on a three-pointer from Penland with 14 seconds left in the quarter, but Marion beat the buzzer from 26 feet to cut the Eagles' lead to 23-16 after one.
Carson-Newman would lead by as many as 14 points on five different occasions in the first half, but five points from Tusculum's Delana DeBusk in the final minute of the half, including a three-pointer with eight seconds to go, would leave the Eagles leading 46-35 at intermission.
Penland led all players with 15 points in the first half for the Eagles, with eight points apiece from Alvey and Keeleigh Rogers. Carson-Newman shot 42.9 percent (18-for-42) in the half and 5-for-16 from three-point range, while scoring 27 of its 46 points on fast breaks. Silva led the Pioneers with eight points and DeBusk added seven for Tusculum, which shot 41.9 percent (13-for-31) and committed 16 turnovers as a team in the half.
The Eagles went on another 10-0 run midway through the third quarter to build a 64-40 lead on a three-point play by Wykle with 4:57 left in the period. Wykle and Rutherford each scored eight points in the third quarter while Marion had six points and four rebounds for the Pioneers, who shot 33.3 percent (5-for-15) in the frame and trailed 71-50 entering the fourth.
Carson-Newman stretched its lead in the fourth quarter as Wykle added eight more points in the frame and Rutherford dished out six assists on nine Eagles' baskets. Tusculum's last field goal came with 5:01 left on a putback by Maddison Zugna.
Zugna finished with eight points, five rebounds and a season-high three blocked shots in 13 minutes off the Tusculum bench, while DeBusk scored seven points in 16 minutes of playing time. Freshman Jordyn Roderick also made her season debut for the Pioneers and had three rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal in eight minutes.
Tusculum will play its final game before winter break on Saturday, Dec. 16 at Newberry, beginning at 2 p.m. from Eleazer Arena. The Wolves (3-6, 1-2 SAC) snapped a four-game losing streak on Wednesday night with a 68-59 victory over Limestone.
