Tusculum College used a big second half to defeat Catawba College 85-61 in South Atlantic Conference Women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.

Nequoiah Anderson and Maelyn Cutshaw scored 20 points apiece and the Pioneers (5-15, 5-11 SAC) shot 49 percent from the field to win for the fourth time in five games. Blakeley Burleson matched her career high with 18 points, Shynese Whitener added 17 points and SAC rebounding leader Kristen McMillion had a game-high 15 boards as the Pioneers outscored the Indians 53-33 in the second half en route to matching their season high in points and posting their largest margin of victory this season.

The Indians (10-10, 8-8 SAC) were led by 13 points from Jada Huntley and 12 points from Mallary Clay, but shot 35 percent (20-for-57) from the field and committed 16 turnovers that the Pioneers converted into 28 points.

Anderson shot a career-best 8-for-12 from the field to reach the 20-point mark for the sixth time this season and fourth time in the last seven games. Cutshaw, who also had a career-high seven rebounds, was a perfect 10-for-10 at the line as part of a 29-for-31 performance at the stripe by Tusculum.

McMillion reached double figures on the boards for the eighth consecutive game and the 14th time this season with her 15-rebound effort. She leads the conference and is ranked among the leaders in Division II with 10.9 rebounds per game. She helped the Pioneers finish the game with a 39-31 advantage on the glass over the Indians.

The first seven minutes of the game were all Catawba as Bully helped the Indians to a 12-4 lead with eight early points. She added her third three-pointer of the first half to give the Indians a 15-10 lead with 11:23 remaining in the half, but would not score again. Meanwhile, Tusculum wound up taking the lead for good on a three-pointer by Burleson which gave the Pioneers a 17-15 lead with 9:49 to play in the half.

The Pioneers would lead by as many as six points before going to the locker room with a 32-28 lead. Whitener led all players with 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting in the first half while Burleson and Anderson had seven points apiece. Bully's 11 points were tops for the Indians, who shot 33.3 percent (9-for-27) from the field and allowed the Pioneers to connect on 13 of their 27 shots (48.1 percent).

A basket by Huntley drew the Indians within 32-30 on their first possession of the second half, but Anderson hit a layup and followed with a three-pointer to give the Pioneers their largest lead to that point at 37-30 with 18:18 to go. The Pioneers built their lead to 49-33 following a bucket by Anderson with 14:30 left, only to see the Indians pull within nine at 49-40 on a Clay jumper with 12:04 on the clock.

However, Cutshaw buried a three-pointer and Anderson converted yet another fast-break layup to give Tusculum a 54-40 lead with 11:27 remaining. From there, the Pioneers cashed in at the free-throw line as they made 18-of-20 foul shots over the final 11:06. Catawba would get no closer than 12 points on two occasions, and the Pioneers scored the game's final seven points to set the final margin. The 24-point win was the largest victory by the Pioneers since an 81-46 win over Wingate on Feb. 9 of last season.

In addition to her 17 points, Whitener had five rebounds and game highs of four assists and three steals. Whitener has scored 14 or more points in eight straight games and has posted at least one steal in 14 consecutive contests. Burleson went 8-for-8 at the foul line and hit a pair of three-pointers to give her at least one three in 11 of the last 12 games.

Tusculum will be on the road Wednesday evening when they travel to Lincoln Memorial University to face the Railsplitters. LMU won the first meeting 76-66 in Greeneville on Jan. 15.