COLUMBUS, Ga. --- A 10-0 run inside the final three minutes lifted Lees-McRae College to a 71-60 victory over Tusculum University in women's basketball at the Lumpkin Center on Saturday afternoon on the second day of the Southeast Region Crossover.
Camryn Lee and Nadiya Hairston each had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Bobcats (1-1), who shot just 33.3 percent (25-for-75) from the field in the game but scored 18 points off 26 Pioneer turnovers.
Maddison Neale led the Pioneers (0-2) with 13 points while Dora Van Rijs grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds for the Pioneers, who outrebounded the Bobcats 50-46 but shot marginally better from the floor at 33.9 percent (21-for-62). Tusculum made 10 three-pointers as a team, including seven in the second half as the Pioneers went on a 21-3 run to overcome an 11-point deficit in the third quarter.
Van Rijs, who had 14 rebounds in Tusculum's season opener against Columbus State on Friday evening, also had four assists and three blocked shots along with four points before fouling out after 33 minutes. Neale was 4-for-8 on three-pointers and had six rebounds while Abbi Douglas and Josie Horner collected nine points apiece.
Horner scored the game's first four points on two foul shots followed by a layup, but the Bobcats clawed back to gain a one-point lead after one quarter at 12-11 following a late three-pointer from Braelyn Stilwell.
Neither team would score in the second quarter until a jumper from Tusculum's Martina Garofalo with 6:39 left in the half. Lees-McRae would go on a 10-0 run to go ahead 22-13 on a basket from Hairston with 3:02 to play. Neale sank a pair of three-pointers in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the half, but Lees-McRae was able to carry a 28-19 lead to intermission.
Tusculum was just 7-for-33 (21.2 percent) from the field in the first half, with Neale and Horner leading the way with six points apiece. Van Rijs led all players with 10 rebounds in the opening half and Horner added five rebounds for the Pioneers.
Lee would give the Bobcats a 30-19 lead on their first possession of the second half, but the Pioneers would rattle off the next 13 points. Douglas started the run with a three-point play, followed by a three-pointer from Horner, two more free throws and a jumper from Douglas, and a three-pointer from Neale that put Tusculum on top 32-30 with 6:30 left in the third. Angela Gomez and Aisha Patel would add threes later in the quarter as Tusculum carried a 44-38 lead into the fourth.
Tusculum held a 49-45 lead after a three-pointer from Garofalo with 6:19 to go, but baskets from Lee and Kaylee Carson put Lees-McRae on top 52-50 with 3:23 left. Douglas connected on a layup with 3:10 left to knot the score at 52, but back-to-back threes from Sandra Mason and Hairston were followed by consecutive buckets from Mason and Lee which put the Bobcats ahead 62-52 with 1:29 remaining. A three from Neale would get Tusculum as close as 66-57 in the final minute, but Lee connected on a three-point play to seal the victory for the Bobcats.
Gomez had seven points in 35 minutes for the Pioneers, while Garofalo made two threes and had eight points along with four rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes off the bench. Shayne Burton led the Lees-McRae bench with nine points with seven points from Charlotte Torgerson.
The Pioneers will host Young Harris in their home opener on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 5:30 p.m. at Pioneer Arena. The Mountain Lions opened the season with a 61-49 win over Georgia College on Friday followed by a 64-52 loss to North Georgia on Saturday.
