GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Lyrik Thorne scored a game-high 23 points as Catawba College defeated Tusculum University 90-81 in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball Saturday at Pioneer Arena.
Sara McIntosh added 17 points and Janiya Downs had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Indians (12-2, 7-1 SAC), who are ranked eighth in the WBCA Division II poll and ninth in the D2CSC rankings this week.
Ni'Kiah Chesterfield posted her first career double-double for the Pioneers (3-12, 1-8 SAC) with 16 points and 10 rebounds, one of four Pioneers in double figures in the game. Lexi Patty added a career-best 16 points and Jenna Kallenberg had a season-high 12 points off the bench for Tusculum, which set a season high in shooting at 49.2 percent (31-for-63).
Catawba outrebounded Tusculum by a 45-38 margin, aided by 24 offensive rebounds that led to 19 second-chance points for the Indians. Catawba shot 43.6 percent (34-for-78) from the floor but forced Tusculum into 18 turnovers while committing just 11 miscues.
Chesterfield shot 7-for-11 from the field to reach double figures in scoring for the fourth time in five games and ninth time this season. Patty was 7-for-8 from the floor and scored 10 fourth-quarter points to beat her previous best of 15 points set twice during the 2021-22 season, while Kallenberg hit a pair of three-pointers to reach double figures for the second straight game.
Catawba led by as many as 16 points early in the fourth quarter before Tusculum was able to whittle the deficit to six in the final minute. The Pioneers scored 28 points in the final quarter to reach the 80-point mark for the third time this season.
The Indians scored the first five points of the game on a basket by McIntosh and a three-pointer from Jada Porter, but the Pioneers came back to tie the game at 8-8 with 7:50 left in the first quarter following back-to-back buckets from Chesterfield. Catawba responded with an 11-2 run to go ahead 19-10 on a Thorne basket with 4:05 left, and stretched its lead to 24-12 on a three-pointer from Natalie Lara Fuentes with 2:05 remaining. The Indians led 26-17 after one period after a three-pointer from the Pioneers' Faith Diggs with 1:08 to go.
Tusculum pulled within 26-24 as Chesterfield closed a 12-2 run with a basket with 8:34 left in the first half, only to see Catawba run off nine in a row to go up 35-24 on a three-pointer from Thorne with 6:50 to go. Kallenberg scored eight points in the final three minutes of the half for the Pioneers to bring Tusculum back within 45-38 at intermission.
Thorne led all players with 12 points in the first half for the Indians, while McIntosh added nine points in nine minutes of action. Catawba shot 40 percent (16-for-40) from the field in the half and went 6-for-14 from three-point range. Chesterfield paced the Pioneers with 10 points and seven rebounds in the opening half, as the Pioneers were an even 50 percent (16-for-32) from the floor and 4-for-15 from long range. Tusculum turned the ball over 12 times in the first half which led to 10 points for Catawba.
Tusculum fell behind 50-38 on a layup by McIntosh with just over a minute gone in the third quarter, but the Pioneers came back to within 50-42 on a layup from Monique Shim with 7:20 to play. Five straight points from Thorne would stretch Catawba's lead to 61-46 with 3:28 left in the period, and two late baskets from Janiya Foskey would give the Indians a 67-53 advantage heading to the fourth.
Two straight baskets from Saniya Wilson gave Catawba its largest lead of the game at 77-61 with 6:46 left, but Tusculum responded with a layup from Chesterfield, a three-point play by Kallenberg and a putback by Patty to pull within 77-68 with 5:21 to go. The Pioneers used two baskets from Carleigh Wilson to move within 83-76 with 1:26 left, but a layup from Thorne with 56 seconds to go and two free throws from McIntosh with 21 seconds remaining helped Catawba put the game out of reach.
Wilson finished with 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting in 16 minutes for the Pioneers, who received six points on two three-pointers from Jordyn Roderick along with five points from Diggs. Foskey had nine points and five rebounds off the bench for the Indians, who received 31 points from their reserves in the win.
Tusculum will play its next three games on the road, starting on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at Lincoln Memorial at 5:30 p.m. The Railsplitters (11-4, 6-3 SAC) lost their third straight game on Saturday with a 68-59 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne.
