WISE, Va. — Caroline Mullins scored 35 points to lift UVA Wise to a 74-64 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball Wednesday evening at the Prior Convocation Center.
Mullins, the leading scorer in the conference at 20.6 points per game, shot 14-for-27 from the field, including 3-for-6 from three-point range, and went 4-for-4 from the foul line for her second 30-point game of the season for the Cavaliers (9-6, 6-3 SAC).
Abbi Douglas finished with 16 points and a season-high six assists for the Pioneers (1-14, 1-8 SAC), who shot a season-best 48.3 percent (28-for-58) from the field but gave up 23 points to the Cavaliers off 18 turnovers. Josie Horner had a season-high 12 points off the bench for Tusculum, with Angela Gomez adding 10 points and five assists.
The Cavaliers went on an 11-0 run late in the first quarter to build a nine-point lead, and led between seven and 15 points the rest of the game. Wise was a perfect 15-for-15 at the foul line as a team and shot 42.9 percent (27-for-63) from the field in the game.
Emilea Preece reached double figures for the Cavaliers with 11 points in 27 minutes off the bench, with 10 points and five rebounds for Madison Looney. Mullins had a team-high eight rebounds for UVA Wise, with Jalie Ruehling filling the scoresheet with six points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Tusculum took an early 5-4 lead on a three-pointer by Douglas, but Mullins scored 10 points in the opening quarter as UVA Wise turned a 13-13 tie into a 24-13 lead on a layup by Mullins with 30 seconds left in the first quarter. A basket from Martina Garofalo just before the buzzer left the Pioneers trailing 24-15 after one period.
The Pioneers stayed close behind the shooting of Ema Nagyova in the second quarter, as she scored seven points to keep Tusculum within 35-28 with 3:33 left in the half. However, Wise would score the final six points of the period to go into halftime with a 41-28 lead.
Mullins led all players with 13 points in the first half for UVA Wise, which shot 53 percent (17-for-32) in the half. Douglas paced the Pioneers with nine points in the half as Tusculum shot 40 percent (12-for-30) while being outrebounded by the Cavaliers 21-13.
In the third quarter, Mullins scored the Cavaliers’ first eight points to give UVA Wise its largest lead of the game at 49-34 with 6:49 left in the period. The Cavaliers would manage just two field goals the rest of the quarter but still took a 58-44 lead into the fourth.
Horner, who scored the final two baskets of the third quarter for the Pioneers, tallied six points in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter as the Pioneers moved within 60-53 with 7:40 remaining. Wise would again turn to Mullins as she scored 10 of the Cavaliers’ 16 points in the period to keep the lead in double figures.
Tusculum was just 3-for-5 from the foul line as a team, and the Pioneers were outrebounded by the Cavaliers by a 36-31 margin. Garofalo led the Pioneers with seven rebounds while Dora Van Rijs had six boards and Julia Szwichtenberg had five to go along with six points.
Nagyova shot 4-for-8 from the field and had nine points in 24 minutes for the Pioneers, with five points from Maddison Neale and four from Garofalo. Tusculum shot 5-for-15 from three-point range as a team, with Douglas hitting a pair and Nagyova, Neale and Horner sinking one apiece.
Tusculum will play its first home game since Dec. 13 when Lenoir-Rhyne visits Pioneer Arena on Saturday, Jan. 17 beginning at 2:00 p.m. The Bears improved to 11-4 overall and moved into a tie for second place in the SAC at 7-2 with their sixth straight win on Wednesday, an 83-57 road rout of 10th-ranked Coker.
