WISE - - Visiting Tusculum kept its hope of a NCAA Tournament at large berth alive by holding UVA Wise to 6-of-27 shooting in the second half en route to a 54-47 South Atlantic Conference women's basketball victory inside the Prior Center Wednesday.

The game featured seven ties and four lead changes, the last coming when Tusculum's (18-5, 9-4 SAC) Deidre Cheremond scored off an offensive rebound put back with under a minute to play in the third quarter.

Trailing 50-48 to start the fourth quarter, UVA Wise (13-12, 4-10 SAC) would score just two points in the opening six minutes of the final period.

The elongated scoring drought would see the Pioneers build their lead to 49-40 before the Cavaliers put forth one final comeback bid.

Jamie Cluesman's team would score five of the game's next six points to draw within five at 50-45 of the No. 10 team in the latest D2SIDA Southeast Regional Poll.

After Sophie Henry made 1-of-2 charity shots, UVA Wise had the ball down 51-45 with 1:48 to play.

Katlin Burger would get her squad within four with a bucket in the paint only to see her team go scoreless over the final minute as Tusculum made a trio of foul shots to secure the win.

Neither team possessed the ball well and neither shot well from the floor. Tusculum turned it over 17 times and was held to 28.1 percent shooting. The 28.1 percent was the lowest a SAC opponent has shot against UVA Wise this winter.

Meanwhile, the Cavs turned it over 20 times and shot 34.7 percent from the field as the team finished with more turnovers than made field goals (17).

Tusclum's Blayre Schultz led all players with 17 points while Mya Belton added 13 with Cheremond turning in a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Jami Tham who entered the game having recorded a double-double in 24 consecutive games saw that streak come to an end. However, the Pioneer did lead all players with 14 rebounds while adding eight rebounds before being injured late in the fourth quarter.

Nia Vanzant led UVA Wise with 15 points while Caitlyn Ross posted 12 points and eight assists. The eight assists give Ross 603 for her career as she becomes the sixth woman in SAC history to reach 600 career assists.

Burger finished with 11 points while Leah Kestner corralled seven rebounds in defeat.

Next up, UVA Wise entertains Wingate Saturday. Tip-off from the Prior Center is slated for 2 p.m.