GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Wingate University pulled away from a third-quarter tie and went on to a 68-60 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball Friday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
Kyleigh Bacon scored 23 points and had seven rebounds and Maggie Shorma added 12 points for the Bulldogs (14-6, 9-5 SAC), who won for the ninth time in 10 games by outrebounding the Pioneers (2-18, 2-12 SAC) by a 43-29 margin.
Ema Nagyova sank six three-pointers and finished with 18 points for the Pioneers, with a career-high 13 points and six assists from Angela Gomez. Josie Horner and Martina Garofalo had eight points apiece and Abbi Douglas battled through foul trouble to collect six points, seven rebounds and three assists along with three steals.
Tusculum shot 41.5 percent (22-for-53) from the field while holding Wingate to 38.1 percent (24-for-63) in the game. Wingate had 20 offensive rebounds, but scored just nine second-chance points as a team. Laura Montiel led all players with nine rebounds and had six points along with eight assists for the Bulldogs.
Nagyova was 6-for-13 from three-point range to surpass her previous career high of five three-pointers set Dec. 6 at Wingate and matched on Jan. 3 at Newberry. Gomez’s 12 points surpassed her previous best of 12 points set twice this season, and came on 6-for-10 shooting from the field including a three-pointer.
Wingate led 9-2 after four minutes as Bacon scored seven early points, but Tusculum was able to cut the deficit to 13-11 on a layup by Douglas with 1:49 left in the opening quarter. Two foul shots from Brayla Harris and a fast-break layup from Montiel gave Wingate a 17-11 lead after one quarter.
The Bulldogs would stretch their run to 11 straight points as a Bacon three-pointer put Wingate ahead 23-11 with 7:17 left in the first half. Two three-pointers from Nagyova helped the Pioneers cut the margin to 26-21 with 2:43 left in the half, but Wingate was able to go to halftime holding a 32-23 advantage.
Bacon had 17 points in the first half on 7-for-12 shooting for Wingate, which shot 35.3 percent (12-for-34) from the field in the half as a team. Nagyova and Gomez paced the Pioneers with six points each as Tusculum was 40 percent (10-for-25) from the field, but outrebounded 27-11 by Wingate.
Wingate took its largest lead of the game at 36-23 on a layup by Bacon one minute into the third quarter, but Tusculum answered with an 18-5 run that was capped by a Garofalo jumper with 1:31 left in the quarter that tied the game at 41-41. The Pioneers would then turn the ball over in the backcourt on its next three possessions, leading to five points that pushed the Bulldogs ahead 46-41 after three quarters.
Tusculum pulled within 52-47 on two foul shots from Aisha Patel with 6:42 to play, but the Pioneers went 5 1/2 minutes without a field goal as Wingate went up 62-52 on a three-pointer from Chi’Nya Isaac with 2:16 left. Tusculum would get back within five points on a three-pointer from Nagyova with 52.3 seconds left and again on two foul shots from Garofalo with 31.5 seconds to go, but Wingate went 3-for-4 from the foul line in the final 30 seconds to clinch the win.
Patel had five points, three rebounds and three blocked shots in 24 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers, while Julia Szwichtenberg contributed two points, two rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocks in 18 minutes. Isaac finished with nine points to go along with four rebounds and four assists for the Bulldogs.
Tusculum’s next home game is Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 5:30 p.m. against Lincoln Memorial. The Railsplitters, who entered Friday’s action in fourth place in the SAC standings, beat the Pioneers 72-44 in their first meeting on Jan. 7 at Tex Turner Arena in Harrogate.
