JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. ---- Carson-Newman University had four double-digit scoring runs to fuel a 103-43 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball Wednesday evening at Holt Fieldhouse.
Braelyn Wykle scored a game-high 24 points and hit five of Carson-Newman's 14 three-pointers as the Eagles (17-7, 11-5 SAC) shot 49.4 percent (39-for-79) from the field and outrebounded the Pioneers by a 53-34 margin. Campbell Penland added 11 points and six rebounds, Mattie Nuckolls scored 10 points off the bench and three other players had nine points apiece for Carson-Newman, which opened and closed the game with a 15-0 run.
Ni'Kiah Chesterfield was the leading scorer for the Pioneers (3-19, 1-15 SAC) with nine points and five rebounds, while Maddison Zugna scored eight points in nine minutes off the bench. The Pioneers shot 31.1 percent (19-for-61) from the field, 2-for-19 (10.5 percent) from three-point range and just 3-for-16 (18.8 percent) at the foul line. The Pioneers gave up 22 turnovers on 16 steals by the Eagles, which led to 24 points for Carson-Newman.
Thirteen different players scored for the Eagles, including Wykle who was 9-for-16 from the field and 5-for-8 from three-point range. Lindsey Taylor had a team-high eight rebounds and finished with nine points, while Makayla Alvey and Karli Haworth had nine points apiece for the Eagles.
Carleigh Wilson had six points and a team-high five assists for the Pioneers, who received five points apiece from Faith Silva, Jenna Kallenberg and Delana DeBusk.
The Eagles made six straight shots in a three-minute span of the first quarter to take a 15-0 lead, including three-pointers from Penland and Tori Rutherford. Tusculum missed its first six attempts and turned the ball over four times until a jumper from Wilson got the Pioneers on the board with 5:38 left in the opening quarter. Wykle hit three three-pointers in a 2 1/2 minute span to push the Carson-Newman lead to 28-9 with 2:28 left in the quarter, and the Eagles would score the final six points to go up 36-13 after one period.
Carson-Newman would extend its run to 13-0 with seven straight points to open the second quarter. Chesterfield hit two layups and Zugna connected on a pair of buckets for Tusculum in the period, which saw the Eagles build a 53-21 lead at intermission.
Wykle led all players with 16 points in the first half on 6-for-10 shooting, while Penland had eight points and Alvey added seven. Taylor finished with four points and seven rebounds for the Eagles, who shot 45.5 percent (20-for-44) from the field and 7-for-16 from three-point range. Chesterfield led the Pioneers with eight points in the first half, but Tusculum shot 33.3 percent (10-for-30) from the field and 1-for-11 from three-point range while turning the ball over 15 times.
In the third quarter, Wykle scored the first eight points for the Eagles as Carson-Newman went up 61-25 with 6:16 left in the third quarter. Tusculum scored back-to-back baskets midway through the period on a three-pointer from Kallenberg and a basket by DeBusk, but Carson-Newman went on a 10-0 run to build a 78-35 lead after three quarters.
Carson-Newman went up 86-36 with 7:53 left before the Pioneers scored five straight points on a layup by Zugna, a jumper from Storm Wilson and a foul shot by Jordyn Roderick, the latter with 4:30 to go. The Eagles then bookended their game-opening run by scoring the final 15 points, the final basket coming with 42 seconds to play.
The Pioneers will be off this Saturday before starting a stretch of three straight home games against Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 5:30 p.m. at Pioneer Arena.
