HICKORY, N.C. --- Lenoir-Rhyne's Tilda Lindstrom converted a three-point play with 30.1 seconds remaining as the Bears edged visiting Tusculum 73-68 at Shuford Arena in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action.
Lindstrom finished with a double-double as she posted 11 points and 15 rebounds and recorded five blocked shots as the Bears (14-5, 9-2 SAC) move into sole possession of first place in the league.
Tusculum (3-14, 1-10 SAC) got double-doubles from Ni'Kiah Chesterfield and Lexi Patty. Chesterfield accounted for 15 points and a season-best 15 rebounds, while Patty notched her first career double-double with 11 points and 11 boards. Faith Silva added 14 points on four 3-pointers while Jordyn Roderick was perfect off the bench going 5-for-5 from the floor including four 3-pointers for her season-best 14 markers.
Lenoir-Rhyne's Andrea Torres led all players with 20 points off the bench which included six 3-pointers. Jayda Glass added 13 points while Balikley Crooks and Emily Harman had 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The Bears forced 25 Tusculum turnovers resulting in 23 points, while LR committed eight miscues on the afternoon.
Tusculum out-rebounded the Bears by a 59-41 margin including with a season-high 59 boards.
The contest saw 11 lead changes including five alone in the fourth period.
TU scored the first five points of the game before LR scored 14 straight to take a 14-5 lead. The Pioneers responded with a 10-0 run sparked by Chesterfield's four points and back-to-back treys from Diggs and Roderick to retake the lead at 15-14. Alexandra Merceron converted a Tusculum turnover into a bucket as the Bears led 16-15 after 10 minutes of play.
Lenoir-Rhyne extended its lead to as many as eight at 27-19 as the Bears connected on three triples in a row including back-to-back trifectas from Torres. The Pioneers whittled the deficit down to three on two occasions, but LR would close out the half with a 9-3 spurt to take a 38-29 lead at the intermission.
The Pioneers opened the third quarter with a 13-3 run to tie the game at 41-41 following a pair of Silva free throws following a LR technical foul at the 5:23 mark of the period. After LR basket, Patty drained a three-pointer as TU went up 44-43 for its first lead since the first quarter. Tusculum went up 46-43 following a Roderick layup, but Torres knotted the score at 46-46 with her three-pointer. Chesterfield answered with a bucket and Roderick added a triple as TU capped a 22-8 run in the third to take a 51-46 lead into the fourth period.
Roderick hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game to give the Pioneers their largest lead of the game at 54-46 with 9:07 remaining.
The Bears answered with an 11-2 run and took the lead at 57-56 following Maleiya Hill's three-pointer with 6:50 to go. Down the stretch, there would be four lead changes and four ties including Glass's steal and layup to level the score at 68-68 with 1:25 on the clock.
The Pioneers would commit their 25th turnover on its ensuing possession. LR would miss a layup but Lindstrom came down with the offensive board and would make the putback and would be fouled on the play with 30.1 seconds left. Her free throw extended the lead to 71-68.
Tusculum would get off three shots on the next possession, but came up empty as Glass came down with the rebound with 10.7 seconds left. She would make one of two free throws to make it a two possession contest and put the game out of reach.
The Pioneers shot 38 percent from the floor including 11-of-24 (46%) from three-point territory. LR was held to 34 percent shooting and also converted 11 triples for the game.
Tusculum will close out its three-game road swing on Wednesday when they travel to Mars Hill for a 5:30 p.m. contest.
