GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Lees-McRae College defeated Tusculum University 78-70 in the opener of the Jersey Mike's Women's Basketball Regional Challenge Saturday evening at Pioneer Arena.
Leah Barringer scored 20 points and Nadiya Hairston added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Bobcats (1-0), who outscored the Pioneers (0-1) 48-39 in the second half after trailing by a point at intermission.
Danyell Booker had 16 points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Pioneers in her Tusculum debut, with Ni'Kiah Chesterfield adding 14 points and seven boards. The Pioneers committed 32 turnovers in the game, which led to 29 points for the Bobcats, and Tusculum was 13-for-28 (46.4 percent) from the foul line as a team.
Tusculum led by seven points early in the third quarter, but Lees-McRae went on an 11-0 run to take the lead for good. The Pioneers trailed by three points a total of four different times in the final 4 1/2 minutes, but the Bobcats put the game away by going 9-for-10 at the foul line in the final quarter.
Booker was 6-for-7 from the field, including a three-pointer, in 19 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers. Jenna Sparks added eight points and three rebounds in her collegiate debut, while Abbi Douglas added eight points and three rebounds. Tusculum outrebounded Lees-McRae by a 50-42 margin, but shot just 3-for-19 from three-point range to offset 42.9 percent (27-for-63) overall shooting in the game.
Layla Tillery, Kirsten Watt and Kenley Woods each had nine points for the Bobcats, who also received six points and nine rebounds from Thailand Smith in 26 minutes off the bench. The Bobcats had 20 steals as a team, led by for apiece from Aleysha Hill and Sandra Mason.
Tusculum scored the first point of the game on an administrative technical free throw by Jenna Kallenberg before the opening tip, and built the lead to 5-0 on two buckets from Chesterfield. The Pioneers led 9-3 after a Douglas layup with 5:19 left in the first quarter, but the Bobcats fought back to tie the game at 11-11 on a free throw from Kayli Dunn with 30 seconds remaining, and Dunn added a basket after a Sparks putback to tie the game at 13 after one period.
Lees-McRae went up 18-13 on a three-point play by Tillery with 8:21 left in the first half, but the Pioneers were able to claw back to a 22-22 deadlock on two foul shots from Booker with 4:09 remaining. Tusculum briefly regained the lead at 26-24 on a layup by Josie Horner with 3:09 to go in the half, and scored the final three points on a putback by Ema Nagyova and a free throw from Zoe Sharpe to lead 31-30 at halftime.
Sparks and Booker shared the team lead with six points apiece in the first half for the Pioneers, while Booker had five rebounds and Kallenberg added four. The Pioneers shot 48.1 percent (13-for-27) from the field, but turned the ball over 19 times and went 4-for-11 from the foul line in the half.
Barringer led the Bobcats with 14 points and four rebounds in the first half as Lees-McRae shot just 28.1 percent (9-for-32) and went 0-for-11 from three-point range as a team. The Bobcats scored 14 of their 30 points off turnovers, which included 12 steals.
Tusculum opened the second half with a 9-2 run that included five points from Chesterfield to build its largest lead of the evening at 40-33. Lees-McRae responded by holding the Pioneers scoreless for 2 1/2 minutes while rattling off 11 straight to go up 44-40 on a Woods three-pointer with 6:19 left in the third quarter. The Pioneers were within 48-47 after a free throw from Booker, but Watt sank a three-pointer to help the Bobcats to a 53-50 lead entering the fourth.
The Bobcats took their largest lead of the game at 66-58 on two free throws from Woods with 4:50 to go, but a basket from Booker and a three-pointer by Carleigh Wilson cut the Lees-McRae advantage to 66-63 with 4:12 left. Woods then sank a three on the Bobcats' next trip to push the lead back to six, and Lees-McRae went 5-for-6 at the line in the final 30 seconds.
Wilson had five points, six rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes for the Pioneers due to foul trouble. The teams combined for 59 fouls and 65 free-throw attempts in the game, with Watt the only player fouling out despite seven other players reaching four fouls.
Tusculum will face 24th-ranked Columbus State in the final game of the Jersey Mike's Regional Challenge on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. at Pioneer Arena. The Cougars defeated Catawba 90-70 in Saturday's late game behind 16 points from Letiya Reeves and 14 points, nine rebounds and five blocks from Bre'Lyn Snipes. Catawba and Lees-McRae will meet at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
