GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Kalisha Hill scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead Limestone University to a 72-58 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
Four players reached double figures for the Saints (8-7, 2-5 SAC), who outrebounded the Pioneers by a 52-32 margin. Reagan Kargo finished with 15 points and five rebounds, Brynn Tabeling had 11 points and six rebounds and Megan Watson added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench for the Saints.
Monique Shim scored 10 points to lead the Pioneers (3-10, 1-6 SAC), who shot 30.4 percent (21-for-69) from the field as a team. Ni'Kiah Chesterfield added nine points, Jenna Kallenberg finished with seven points and Jordyn Roderick finished with a season-high six points. Carleigh Wilson had seven points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Pioneers, who tied a season high with 15 steals.
Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds in the first half to help the Saints to a 38-22 lead at intermission. Limestone finished the game at 43.3 percent (26-for-60) from the field and 17-for-19 from the foul line as a team.
An 8-0 run in the opening 2 1/2 minutes gave the Saints an early 10-2 lead, but the Pioneers responded with eight unanswered points to tie the game at 12-12 on two free throws by Maddison Zugna with 2:39 left in the opening quarter. Limestone finished the quarter with six in a row to take an 18-12 lead after one period.
The Saints' run extended to 12-0 with six straight points to start the second quarter before Chesterfield converted a layup with 7:07 to play in the half. A jumper by Hill gave Limestone its largest lead of the half at 36-17 with 2:07 to go, but a three-pointer from Roderick and a late layup by Faith Diggs cut the deficit to 38-22 at intermission.
Hill's 14 points came on 7-for-12 shooting from the field in the first half, as the Saints went 51.6 percent (16-for-31) from the floor as a team. Roderick led the Pioneers with six points in the first half on two three-pointers, but Tusculum shot just 21.6 percent (8-for-37) as a team and 3-for-12 on threes in the half.
Tusculum scored 14 of the first 19 points of the third quarter, including three-pointers from Faith Silva and Shim, to cut the Limestone lead to 43-36 with 5:02 remaining. However, the Saints would run off seven in a row to go ahead 50-37 on a three-point play from Amara Newsom with 2:35 to go in the quarter. Late baskets from Kargo and Dior Shelton helped the Saints to a 58-42 lead heading to the fourth.
Limestone's largest lead of the game came with 5:43 left when Hill made two free throws to give the Saints a 68-45 lead. From there, the Pioneers outscored the Saints 13-4 including two three-pointers from Kallenberg.
Diggs finished with a season-high six assists in 19 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers, while both Delana DeBusk and Simona Henshaw each had three steals.
The Pioneers will continue their three-game homestand on Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 5:30 p.m. against Emory & Henry. The Wasps (7-8, 2-5 SAC) defeated the Pioneers 93-82 in their first meeting of the season on Jan. 3.
