GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Sable Burnside scored a South Atlantic Conference season-high 41 points to lead UVA Wise to an 88-73 win over Tusculum University in SAC women’s basketball Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.
Burnside, who also had 10 rebounds and five steals, shot 17-for-28 from the field, including 4-for-5 on three-pointers, and went 3-for-5 at the foul line to tie for the third-highest point total in Division II this season.
Caroline Mullins added 17 points and five steals, all in the first half, and Ella Karst scored 12 points for the Cavaliers (11-16, 8-15 SAC), who led by as many as 24 points in the third quarter and scored 36 points off 29 Tusculum turnovers.
Ni’Kiah Chesterfield led the Pioneers (9-18, 7-16 SAC) with 26 points, with Abbi Douglas adding 14 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Carleigh Wilson also reached double figures for the Pioneers with 10 points, as Tusculum shot 47.4 percent (27-for-57) from the field but just 5-for-20 on three-pointers.
Chesterfield was 9-for-13 from the field, including a three-pointer, and 7-for-10 from the foul line to reach the 20-point mark for the 11th time this season. Douglas’ double-double was her second in a row and third of the season.
The Cavaliers went on a 15-0 run in the first quarter as Tusculum had a stretch of four straight turnovers during the surge, which left UVA Wise with a 22-8 lead with 3:50 to play in the quarter. Burnside and Mullins each scored 10 points in the quarter as UVA Wise led 29-15 after one period.
A three-pointer from Douglas brought the Pioneers within 34-24 with 5:01 to play in the first half, but the Cavaliers ended the half with a 15-3 run including the last six points after a Chesterfield three with 1:52 to go.
Burnside led the Cavaliers with 19 points in the first half, while Mullins left the game with 19 seconds to go in the second quarter and did not return after scoring 17 points. The Cavaliers shot 42.9 percent (18-for-42) from the field but had 28 points off 20 Pioneer turnovers. Chesterfield led the Pioneers with 12 points as Tusculum shot 41.7 percent (10-for-24) as a team.
UVA Wise took its largest lead at 51-27 on a layup by Makenzie Bremer early in the second half, but the Pioneers went on an 11-2 run to pull within 53-38 on a three-point play from Zoe Sharpe with 5:38 remaining in the third quarter. Tusculum would get as close as 64-51 on a foul shot by Douglas with 1:47 remaining, but a three-pointer by Burnside and a jumper from Alissa Cheek put the Cavaliers up 69-53 after three.
In the fourth, the teams traded baskets as the UVA Wise lead never got above 18 or below 13. Burnside capped her performance by making one of two at the foul line with 1:00 remaining.
Sharpe finished with five points and a season-high seven rebounds for the Pioneers in 26 minutes, while Angela Gomez added five points and four assists in 22 minutes off the Tusculum bench. Cheek paced the UVA Wise bench with nine points, four rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes.
Tusculum will close its 2024-25 season on Saturday, March 1 at Pioneer Arena against Anderson. The Trojans have won eight straight games and are 20-9 overall and 16-7 in the SAC, currently in fourth place with a chance of moving as high as second in the conference entering next week’s tournament. The Trojans beat the Pioneers 92-63 in the first meeting of the season between the teams on Jan. 11
