GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- UVA Wise scored the first 15 points and went on to an 83-46 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball Wednesday evening at Pioneer Arena.
Caroline Mullins and Jaci Neubert led a balanced attack for the Highland Cavaliers (14-11, 11-8 SAC) with 11 points apiece, as all 15 players who took the court for UVA Wise scored at least two points. Mullins had a team-high seven rebounds while Neubert was 3-for-5 from three-point range for UVA Wise, which shot 49.2 percent (30-for-61) from the field and 13-for-14 at the foul line.
Angela Gomez led all players with 12 points for the Pioneers (2-23, 2-17 SAC), who shot 26.2 percent (16-for-61) from the field and went 0-for-17 from three-point range to snap a streak of 120 straight games with at least one three-pointer dating to Jan. 8, 2022 against Catawba. Julia Szwichtenberg had eight points and a game-high eight rebounds and Martina Garofalo added eight points and seven boards for the Pioneers.
UVA Wise built a 21-8 lead after one quarter and went up 40-16 at halftime as Tusculum shot just 15.6 percent (5-for-32) from the field in the opening half. The Cavaliers extended their advantage to 60-30 after three quarters before dipping deep into their bench in the fourth quarter.
Aisha Patel had six points and seven rebounds along with two steals for the Pioneers, while Josie Horner had six points and a pair of steals. Six of Szwichtenberg's eight rebounds came on the offensive glass, and she also had two steals and a blocked shot.
The Pioneers turned the ball over 20 times which led to 22 points for the Cavaliers, while UVA Wise had 14 turnovers which Tusculum turned into eight points. UVA Wise outrebounded Tusculum 42-36, with the Pioneers collecting 16 offensive rebounds.
Tusculum will travel to Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday, Feb. 21 beginning at 2 p.m. The 22nd-ranked Bears (21-4, 17-2 SAC) stretched their winning streak to 16 games and moved to 12-0 at Shuford Memorial Arena with an 89-67 rout of 12th-ranked Coker on Wednesday. The win kept Lenoir-Rhyne a game ahead of Lincoln Memorial for first place in the SAC standings with three games remaining in the regular season.
