Women's Basketball Downs Tusculum For Third Straight Win

GREENEVILLE, TENN. – The Mars Hill women's basketball team used a stingy defense to knock off Tusculum College on Wednesday, January 13 at Pioneer Arena. The Lions improve to 6-8 overall and 5-4 in the SAC, while the Pioneers drop to 6-6, 4-5.

Four players scored in double-figures for the Lions as Ansley Ricker poured in a game-high 19 points. Cadence Wilmoth delivered another stellar performance with 17 points and six rebounds while Paige Chavis and Genice Lane chipped in 16 and 15, respectively.

Kelsey Espinosa grabbed a game-high 10 boards and just missed the double-double plateau as she scored nine points in the win. Mars Hill shot 41% from the field, including 40% (4-10) from downtown. The Lions outrebounded the Pioneers by a 43-36 mark and also forced 22 turnovers that led to an astonishing 39 points.

Tusculum started the contest with two free throws before any time came off the game clock as a technical foul was assessed to the Lions during pregame. Those points from the charity stripe followed by a deep three and a layup staked the Pioneers to an early 7-0 lead. Kelly Espinosa finally got MHU on the board at the 6:20 mark with a foul-line jumper before Genice Lane added a short jumper of her own to narrow the gap to 7-4. A physical first quarter came to rest with the Pioneers clinging on to a 22-18 advantage.

After a fast-paced and relatively high scoring first session, neither team could muster any consistent offense to open the second frame, with TC pulling ahead 28-20 with just under five to play before intermission. Mars Hill was able to minimally cut into the deficit outscoring the Pioneers 9-8 to finish the half and go into the break trailing 36-29.

A pair of old-fashioned three point plays to start the third from Cadence Wilmoth and Paige Chavis trimmed the margin to 41-37 with 6:35 to go in the quarter. Ansley Ricker gave the Lions their first lead, 46-45, at the 2:57 mark with a clutch three from the right wing. That lead was short lived as TC's Sydney Wilson knocked down her third three of the contest to give the Pioneers the lead back.

A tenacious defensive play from Paige Chavis allowed her to steal the ball in the backcourt and race to lay the ball off the glass and knot the score at 48-all with 2:16 left in the third frame. Wilmoth connected on a layup at the horn to send the game into the fourth period deadlocked at 52.

Chavis knocked down her first three of the contest to open the scoring in the fourth before Sydney Wilson was fouled on her three point attempt and calmly netted all three free throws to once again tie the game. Mars Hill then turned up the defensive pressure, forcing three consecutive turnovers and capitalizing on the Pioneers' errors, outscoring the home team 16-6 over a four-minute span to garner its biggest lead at 71-61. Ricker drained a triple from the corner and the Lions connected from the charity stripe to finish off TC and collect their third-consecutive win.

Mars Hill will be back in action on Saturday, January 16 as they welcome Lenoir-Rhyne to Stanford Arena for a South Atlantic Conference showdown. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.