BOX SCORE

Wingate, N.C.----A 13-0 run to open the second half propelled Wingate University to a 73-55 victory over Tusculum College in a South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball game Saturday afternoon at Cuddy Arena. The triumph gives Wingate (15-7 overall, 9-5 SAC) 10 home victories in 11 tries this season. Tusculum (15-7 overall, 9-5 SAC) drops back-to-back games for the first time since December.
 
Four players scored in double figures for the Bulldogs, led by 15 points each from senior guard Tiffany Brown (Cartersville, Ga.) and sophomore guard Janitsha Williams (Statesville, N.C.). Wingate shot 48.3 percent (28-for-58) from the field as a team and turned 32 Tusculum turnovers into 37 points.
 
Sophomore guard Alishia Mosley (Cameron, N.C.) led all players with 19 points for the Pioneers (15-7, 9-5 SAC), including 17 in the second half. Senior forward Linda Aughburns (Fayetteville, N.C.) posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Wingate shot 56.7 percent (17-for-30) from the field in the first half on its way to a 37-23 halftime lead, thanks to 13 points from Williams. The Bulldogs opened the second half with 13 unanswered points to take their largest lead of the day at 50-23 with 16:48 to go. Wingate senior guard/forward Kurie Washington (Marion, N.C.) had seven of her 11 points during the 13-0 flurry.
 
Wingate dominated Tusculum in nearly every statistical category, outscoring the Pioneers 40-18 on points in the paint and 20-8 on fast-break points. The Bulldogs also outrebounded the Pioneers by a 36-32 margin, only the fifth time in 22 games that Tusculum has lost the rebound battle this season. Wingate senior forward Simone Rutledge (Atlanta, Ga.) topped the Bulldog charts with her 10 boards. Mosley pulled down five caroms to augment Aughburns’ glass cleaning.
 
The Bulldogs scored the game’s first six points, but the Pioneers fought back to tie the game 6-6 on back-to-back baskets by senior forward Staci Hicks (Loveland, Ohio) and two free throws from Mosley. Wingate then scored the next eight points, capping the run on a breakaway lay-up by Washington with 12:56 left in the first half for a 14-6 lead.
 
Tusculum battled back to within five at 26-21 on a steal and lay-up by Aughburns with 7:36 left in the half, but Wingate closed the half with seven straight points in the final four minutes to go to the locker room with a 37-23 lead. Williams shot five-for-six from the field for the Bulldogs to post her game-high 13 first-half points, while Kendal Baxter paced the Pioneers with six points on a pair of three-point field goals.
 
Washington scored seven of Wingate’s 13 points to open the second half; two free throws by Brown gave the Bulldogs a 50-23 lead with 16:48 remaining. Tusculum responded with eight unanswered points to pull within 50-31 on a three-pointer by Mosley with 14:47 to go, but would not get any closer until a three-pointer by Mosley in the final seconds set the final margin of 18.
 
Aughburns posted her fourth double-double of the season with her 10 points and 11 rebounds; she also added a career-high six steals. For the game, Tusculum shot 34.6 percent (18-for-52) from the field and went nine-for-24 from three-point range.
 
Wingate sophomore guard Nikki Burton (Charlotte, N.C.) posted six points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Wingate had 17 steals in the contest, with Williams and Burton leading the way with four each. The Bulldogs also recorded 17 steals in a 91-76 home victory over Lenoir-Rhyne Wednesday. Wingate’s two victories this week featured an average scoring margin of plus-16.5 points.
 
On Saturday afternoon, Wingate partnered with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) to host Play 4Kay. The initiative raises breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. The Bulldogs collected money for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund™ Saturday.
 
Wingate hits the road for three of its last four regular season contests. On Wednesday, the Bulldogs visit Newberry College for a 6 p.m. contest. Tusculum hosts Anderson (S.C.) Wednesday for its Play 4Kay game at 6 p.m.
 
(Special thanks to Tusculum College assistant SID Jim Miller for his contributions to this story.)