WISE – The UVA Wise women's basketball team erased a late seven point deficit to Tusculum to tie the game at 79-79 with 1:33 remaining, but a late Pioneer run allowed Tusculum to escape the David J. Prior Convocation Center with the 85-83 South Atlantic Conference win Wednesday evening.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Result: Tusculum 85, UVA Wise 83
Records: UVA Wise (8-10, 5-9 SAC); Tusculum (7-11, 5-9 SAC)
Location: The Quillen Court in the David J. Prior Convocation Center
HOW IT HAPPENED
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Jalie Ruehling gave the Cavs the 3-0 lead on their first possession with a pull up three-pointer. The Pioneers would take a lead, only to see
Sable Burnside tie it up with a three-pointer. The Pioneers grabbed the lead on the next possession, and over the rest of the quarter slowly extended it to nine points.
-UVA Wise cut the lead to four points on several occasions in the second quarter, only to see Tusculum stop any Cavalier runs. Four quick points by
Caroline Mullins cut the lead to 33-32 with 1:26 remaining, and after a pair of Pioneer free throws she would hit two of her own to again cut the lead to 35-34 with 1:09 left in the half. Tusculum would score a late basket and take the 37-34 lead into the half.
- The Pioneers opened up the third quarter on an 8-0 run to extend the lead to eleven points. UVA Wise would go on run of their own as a three-pointer by
Emilea Preece and baskets from Burnside and
Ella Karst reduced the TU lead to 47-44 with 4:19 left. The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes before back to back baskets by Burnside gave the Cavs the 54-53 lead with 1:38 remaining. The Pioneers would answer back with a 6-2 run down the stretch to lead 59-56 heading into the fourth quarter.
- The Cavs cut the lead to one twice before Tusculum shot back out to a seven point lead. Scores by
Makenzie Bremer and
Caroline Mullins would cut the lead down to 73-71 with less than four minutes remaining. The Cavs then put together another run by Bremer and
Alissa Cheek, with Cheek tying the game at 77-77 on a free throw with 2:07 left. Half a minute later, with the score tied at 79-79, the Pioneers hit a three-pointer. After a Cavalier shot missed, they were forced to foul, and TU hit one of the two free throws. Bremer hit a basket a few seconds later to make it 83-81, but again UVA Wise was forced to foul and the Pioneers hit both. A three-pointer with three seconds left fell short, but
Ella Karst grabbed the rebound and scored at the buzzer to make the final 85-83.
- Tusculum was led by Ni'Kiah Chesterfield's 27 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Abbi Douglas chipped in 15 points, four assists, and five steals. Jaylin Spurlin and Carleigh Wilson each scored 10 points and had nine rebounds. For the contest, the Pioneers out-shot UVA Wise 52.2%-34.6% and held the rebounding advantage 50-41.
GETTING WISE
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Sable Burnside's 23 points led the Cavs in scoring.
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Ella Karst added in 21 points and a team-high four assists.
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Caroline Mullins scored 16 points and had six rebounds and a game-high three blocks.
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Makenzie Bremer had 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
- The Cavs forced the Pioneers into 27 turnovers for the game, and had 14 steals.
UP NEXT
UVA Wise travels to #14/#15 Coker this Saturday looking for revenge for their 78-60 loss to the Cobras back in November. Coker is currently 16-1 overall and 12-1 in the SAC after defeating Newberry earlier this evening.
