HICKORY, N.C. — Five players scored in double figures for Lenoir-Rhyne University in a 91-78 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball Saturday afternoon at Shuford Memorial Arena.
Alexandra Merceron scored 23 points, Sofia Mendez added 18 points and Tilda Lindstrom collected 13 points and a game-high 16 rebounds along with four blocked shots for the Bears (4-5, 3-4 SAC), who shot 47.4 percent (37-for-78) from the field and turned the ball over just eight times in the game. Lenoir-Rhyne was just 2-for-17 on three-pointers, but had 14 offensive rebounds which turned into 15 second-chance points.
Ni’Kiah Chesterfield scored a game-high 28 points on 10-for-16 shooting for the Pioneers (4-5, 2-3 SAC), while Danyell Booker added 13 points and six rebounds in her first start of the season and Jalyn Spurlin contributed 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for her second double-double of the season.
Off the bench, Jenna Sparks had six points and a season-high six rebounds in 10 minutes and Josie Horner added a season-best six points in nine minutes as the Pioneers combined for 40 points from their post players in the game.
Tusculum shot 44.4 percent (32-for-73) from the field and hit just one three-pointer in seven attempts. The Pioneers were 13-for-15 from the foul line, including 8-for-8 from Chesterfield, and Tusculum outrebounded Lenoir-Rhyne by a 44-41 margin.
The Bears never trailed in the game, with a brief deadlock at 2-2 on a layup by Booker. Lenoir-Rhyne scored six straight points to go up 14-6 on two foul shots from Vanessa Jurewicz with 4:27 left in the first quarter, and the Bears’ lead would reach nine before a jumper from Horner in the final 30 seconds of the period. A late basket by Mendez gave Lenoir-Rhyne a 23-14 lead after one quarter.
The Bears would score the first eight points of the second quarter, five from Mendez and three from Merceron, to go up 31-14 with 7:02 left in the half. Tusculum would answer with a 10-2 run that was capped by a Horner layup to bring the Pioneers within 33-24 with 2:59 remaining. A 9-2 run by the Bears would close the half as Lenoir-Rhyne took a 42-26 advantage to intermission.
Chesterfield led the Pioneers with 10 points in the first half as Tusculum shot just 11-for-36 (30.6 percent) from the field and 0-for-4 from three-point range. Merceron had a team-high 11 points and Lindstrom added eight rebounds for the Bears, who were at 42.5 percent (17-for-40) from the field but just 1-for-11 from beyond the arc.
Tusculum would score six straight points to begin the third quarter, and a basket from Spurlin left Lenoir-Rhyne on top 52-42 with 4:37 left in the quarter. The Pioneers would trim the deficit to 56-51 on a Chesterfield layup with 1:50 remaining in the period, but the Bears ran off six in a row to end the quarter and take a 62-51 lead into the fourth.
Mendez scored six points in the first 65 seconds of the fourth quarter as part of an 18-4 surge that pushed the Lenoir-Rhyne lead to 76-57 with 6:41 to play. The lead would reach 22 points at 88-66 with 3:33 remaining before the Pioneers closed the game on a 12-3 run.
Emily Harman and Blaikley Crooks each had 11 points and five assists for the Bears, while Jurewicz dished out nine assists despite missing all eight of her field-goal attempts. Lenoir-Rhyne scored 19 points off 17 Tusculum turnovers.
The Pioneers will play their only home game of December on Wednesday evening when Catawba visits Pioneer Arena for a 5:30 p.m. contest. The Indians entered the weekend tied for fifth in the SAC at 3-2 and at 5-3 overall.
