MEADOWVIEW, Va. — Ni’Kiah Chesterfield scored 11 of her team-high 23 points in the fourth quarter and Tusculum University scored the final nine points in a 94-81 victory at Emory & Henry University in South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball Wednesday evening at the King Center.
Jalyn Spurlin tied her season high with 22 points and Abbi Douglas narrowly missed a triple-double with a season-best 17 points, a career-high 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Pioneers (6-8, 4-6 SAC), who trailed 26-17 after one quarter but shot a season-best 54.4 percent (37-for-68) from the field as a team. Danyell Booker and Zoe Sharpe each added nine points off the bench, with Carleigh Wilson and Chesterfield each pulling nine rebounds for the Pioneers.
Breanna Yarber tied her own school single-game scoring record for the Wasps (5-11, 0-10 SAC) with 38 points on 17-for-31 shooting from the field, matching the mark she set against the Pioneers on January 3 of last season. Hannah Spainhour had 11 points and five rebounds, but the Wasps were outrebounded 47-33 by the Pioneers.
Chesterfield shot 11-for-18 from the field, including a three-pointer, to reach double figures in scoring for the 13th time in 14 games and the 20-point mark for the fifth time this season. Spurlin was 11-for-17 from the floor in 30 minutes to equal her season high set Nov. 16 against USC Aiken. Douglas went 8-for-9 at the foul line and surpassed her season high of 16 points set Dec. 18 at Lincoln Memorial. Her 10 rebounds were a career high while her eight assists equaled her career best.
Tusculum trailed 26-17 after one quarter, then shot 10-for-16 from the field in the second quarter to take a 41-40 lead at halftime. The Pioneers were 57.6 percent (19-for-33) from the floor in the second half, including 3-for-4 from three-point range in the fourth quarter after breaking the 11th and final tie late in the third period.
The first quarter featured nine lead changes, with a three-pointer from the Wasps’ Tori West sparking an 8-0 run that gave Emory & Henry a 22-15 lead with 2:37 left in the quarter. Both teams went through a scoring drought of more than two minutes before a layup by Yarber just before the buzzer gave the Wasps a 26-17 lead after one period.
Tusculum opened the second quarter with an 11-0 run over the first 5 1/2 minutes, regaining the lead at 28-26 on a layup by Chesterfield with 6:22 remaining in the first half. Emory & Henry missed its first 12 field-goal attempts in the quarter until a putback by Spainhour tied the game at 28-28 with 4:27 left in the half. The teams would be tied five more times in the quarter until back-to-back baskets from Spurlin in the final minute gave Tusculum a 41-40 lead at intermission.
Spurlin led the Pioneers in first-half scoring with 16 points on 8-for-12 shooting, while Douglas had seven points and eight rebounds and Chesterfield had eight points for the Pioneers, who shot 18-for-35 (51.4 percent) from the field in the half as a team. Yarber led Emory & Henry with 14 points and four rebounds and Spainhour collected nine points for the Wasps, who shot 35.9 percent (14-for-39) from the field and 3-for-14 from three-point range.
Tusculum built a 51-44 lead early in the third quarter on a putback by Chesterfield with 6:53 left, but Emory & Henry got back-to-back buckets from Gracyn Hall to pull back within 51-48. A three-point play by Wilson put the Pioneers back up by six, but Yarber scored 13 points in the quarter including a layup with 1:05 left to bring the Wasps within a point. Emory & Henry tied the game at 61-61 on a layup from Emma Santoro with 42 seconds to go, but Sharpe converted a three-point play and Angela Gomez scored off a Spurlin steal to give Tusculum a 66-61 lead after three quarters.
The Pioneers would never trail in the fourth quarter, although the Wasps cut an eight-point lead to one as Mimi Traynham hit a three-pointer with 6:26 to go to cut the Tusculum lead to 73-72. Back-to-back baskets from Sharpe and Spurlin stretched the lead back to seven, but Yarber drilled a three-pointer with 2:21 remaining to bring Emory & Henry to within 85-81. From there, it was all Pioneers as Booker and Chesterfield hit back-to-back threes and Douglas made three foul shots in the final 40 seconds.
Sharpe’s nine points matched her season high set Saturday against Limestone, while Wilson’s nine rebounds were a season best. Traynham finished with seven points and six assists in 25 minutes off the bench for the Wasps, while Santoro scored eight points and added five rebounds and five assists.
The Pioneers will visit Anderson on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 2 p.m. at the Abney Athletic Center. The Trojans defeated Newberry 73-45 Wednesday evening to improve to 10-6 overall and 6-4 in SAC play.
