GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Wingate University defeated Tusculum University 77-66 in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
The Bulldogs (15-7, 14-4 SAC) won their fifth consecutive game and remained in second place in the SAC standings by outrebounding the Pioneers (8-15, 6-13 SAC) by a 54-31 margin. Wingate attempted 33 foul shots to 13 for Tusculum and led for the final three quarters by as many as 20 points.
Five players reached double figures for Wingate, with a balanced attack led by 12 points apiece from Anna Baraldi and Bri Hughes. Anya Massey and Kyleigh Bacon had 11 points apiece, with Laney Beale adding 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Lia Anderson had a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with seven points for the Bulldogs.
Jenna Kallenberg scored all of her game-high 14 points in the second half, including four three-pointers, while Zoe Sharpe had 12 points and Carleigh Wilson added 10 points, six assists, three blocked shots and three steals for the Pioneers. Ni'Kiah Chesterfield, the leading scorer in the SAC at 19.5 points per game, was held to eight points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes as the Pioneers shot 35.9 percent (23-for-64) as a team, but made a season-high 11 three-pointers.
Of the 54 rebounds for Wingate, 20 came on the offensive glass and led to 17 second-chance points for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs were 39.3 percent (24-for-61) from the field and 6-for-14 from three-point range as a team, but went 23-for-33 at the foul line compared to 9-for-13 for Tusculum.
The Pioneers took an early 6-2 lead on three-pointers from Wilson and Abbi Douglas, and went up 10-7 on a layup from Sharpe with 5:43 remaining in the first quarter. That would be the final field goal of the quarter for the Pioneers, who went just over five minutes without a point as the Bulldogs went up 12-10 on a three-pointer by Hughes with 2:18 remaining. Massey scored on a layup in the final seconds to give Wingate a 14-12 lead after one quarter.
The Bulldogs stretched their lead to 28-18 on two free throws from Hughes with 5:08 left, but Sharpe hit four foul shots in a span of a minute to pull the Pioneers back within 28-22. The Bulldogs would close the half on a 9-0 run over the final 3:41, taking a 37-22 into halftime following a three-point play from Bethel Ekperigha.
Sharpe led the Pioneers with nine points in the first quarter on 7-for-8 shooting from the foul line, while Chesterfield and Wilson had five points apiece. Tusculum was just 6-for-28 (21.4 percent) from the floor in the first half and 2-for-11 on three-pointers. Hughes had 10 points off the bench in the first half to lead the Bulldogs, who shot 10-for-30 from the field and went 13-for-14 at the foul line as a team.
Wingate went up 45-25 on a layup by Massey with 6:33 left in the third quarter, but Tusculum was able to cut the margin to 55-44 on back-to-back threes from Kallenberg and Wilson in the final 90 seconds of the period. A jumper by Hughes with 19 seconds remaining would give the Bulldogs a 57-44 lead entering the fourth.
The Pioneers got as close as 59-49 on a three-pointer from Ema Nagyova with 8:45 remaining, but the Bulldogs were dominant on the boards in the final frame by an 18-5 margin, including eight offensive rebounds. Tusculum hit five three-pointers in the fourth quarter, including three by Nagyova, but could get no closer than 11 in the final five minutes.
Nagyova finished with a season-high nine points in 11 minutes off the bench for Tusculum, while Douglas battled foul trouble and had seven points and three steals in 19 minutes. Kylie Chavis finished with eight points and three rebounds for the Bulldogs in 17 minutes, with Ekperigha adding six.
The Pioneers will wrap up a stretch of three straight home games on Wednesday, Feb. 12 when Carson-Newman visits for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. The Eagles who beat the Pioneers 93-73 at home on Nov. 20, are in third place in the SAC at 14-5 and improved to 17-6 overall with an 88-51 victory on Saturday over visiting Newberry.
