HARROGATE, Tenn. — Zoe Sharpe and Abbi Douglas blocked shots in the final three seconds as Tusculum University held for a 60-58 victory over Lincoln Memorial University in South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball Wednesday evening at Tex Turner Arena.
Jalyn Spurlin had a team-high 17 points off the bench, Douglas scored a season-high 16 points and Ni’Kiah Chesterfield posted a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Pioneers (5-7, 3-5 SAC), who led 50-36 entering the fourth quarter only to see the Railsplitters have shots for the tie and the win in the final seconds.
Alexa Smiddy scored 16 of her game-high 28 points in the second half to lead the Railsplitters (4-6, 3-4 SAC), while Kamil Collier finished with 10 points, all in the fourth quarter, and 10 rebounds. Matty Tanner pulled a game-high 11 rebounds and had five assists for Lincoln Memorial, which shot just 30.6 percent (19-for-62) from the field in the game and fell at home to Tusculum for the fifth time in the last six meetings.
Tusculum led 60-58 with time running out, but came up with back-to-back defensive stops as Sharpe rejected a short jumper by Smiddy and then Douglas closed out on a follow-up three-point attempt from Asia Barr by deflecting her would-be game-winning attempt with one second to go. A third attempt off a rebound from Collier was off-target and came after time expired. Sharpe had four points and three blocked shots and no turnovers in 23 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers, including a key bucket late in the fourth quarter.
Chesterfield posted her second double-double of the season and fifth of her career in 35 minutes, shooting 5-for-10 from the field and grabbing all 10 of her rebounds on the defensive glass. Douglas nailed a pair of three-pointers and had four steals while surpassing her previous high of 15 points against USC Aiken on Nov. 16. Spurlin was 5-for-5 at the foul line and had five rebounds to go along with her ninth double-digit scoring game off the bench this season.
Smiddy shot just 9-for-20 from the field, including 3-for-7 from beyond the arc, but was 7-for-7 at the foul line in 39 minutes for the Railsplitters. Barr was just 3-for-12 from the field and 2-for-10 from long range, but had a game-high five steals, while Tanner missed all eight of her field-goal attempts. Lincoln Memorial shot 6-for-25 from three-point territory but was 14-for-16 at the stripe.
Lincoln Memorial scored the game’s first four points, but Tusculum ran off nine straight points to take a 9-4 lead on a Chesterfield bucket with 7:09 remaining in the quarter. Lincoln Memorial would come back to regain the advantage at 12-11 on a layup by Smiddy with 5:28 to play, only to see Tusculum come back with a 11-2 run that included six points from Spurlin. The Pioneers went up 22-14 on a three-pointer by Carleigh Wilson with 1:00 left in the period, and carried a 22-16 lead into the second quarter.
Douglas scored five points in a span of 10 seconds to push the Pioneers’ lead to 29-19 with 5:34 left in the first half, and added baskets on consecutive possessions to stretch the Tusculum advantage to 33-22 with 1:08 remaining. Spurlin completed a three-point play with 36.1 seconds to go for a 36-25 Pioneer lead that they would carry into halftime.
Douglas shot 5-for-6 from the field, including two three-pointers, and led the Pioneers with 12 points in the opening half while Spurlin had 11 points off the bench. Tusculum shot 44.1 percent (15-for-34) from the field and had a 23-17 rebound advantage, led by six from Chesterfield. Smiddy paced the Railsplitters with 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting and Barr added six points, but Lincoln Memorial was just 29 percent (9-for-31) from the field with 11 turnovers that led to 12 Tusculum points.
A three-pointer from Monique Shim put the Pioneers on top 41-30 with 6:45 to go in the third quarter, and a Wilson three gave Tusculum a 44-32 advantage with 4:53 remaining. A layup from Chesterfield with 1:20 left gave Tusculum its largest lead to that point at 50-36, which the Pioneers took into the final period.
Lincoln Memorial opened the fourth quarter with an 13-2 run, cutting the Tusculum lead to 52-49 on a jumper by Collier with 5:29 remaining. Chesterfield made a layup with 4:35 left to stretch the advantage to five, but Smiddy made two free throws to bring LMU back within 56-53 with 3:14 to play. A three-point play from Smiddy with 1:02 left shrank the Tusculum lead to 60-58, and a Pioneer miss gave the Railsplitters the final possession. As time ran down, Smiddy drove the lane but her shot attempt was smothered by Sharpe, and a last-ditch attempt just before the buzzer by Barr was off-target after being deflected by Douglas.
The Railsplitters had a slim 38-37 rebounding edge over the Pioneers, and scored 20 points off 21 Pioneer turnovers. Tusculum made all seven of its free-throw attempts, and the Pioneers made five three-pointers in 18 attempts for the most threes made against the Railsplitters this season. Wilson was 2-for-4 from long range and had six points and three rebounds for the Pioneers, which shot 40.7 percent (24-for-59) overall in the game.
Tusculum will visit ETSU for an exhibition game against the Bucs on Thursday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. at Brooks Gymnasium. The Pioneers’ next conference game will be Saturday, Jan. 4 against Limestone at 2 p.m. at Pioneer Arena. The Saints (4-7, 1-7 SAC) fell 69-55 at home to Carson-Newman on Wednesday afternoon.
