Greeneville, Tenn.----Wingate University junior center Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) led the visitors with her second double-double of the 2016-17 campaign with 21 points and 13 rebounds as the Bulldogs claimed a dominant 73-48 road triumph over the Tusculum College Pioneers in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action from Pioneer Arena. Miscenko also added two steals and a career-best five blocks to her stellar statistical ledger.
 
Wingate improves to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the SAC. Tusculum is now 1-2 and 0-1 in conference action. The 'Dogs are back in action Tuesday evening for their 2016-17 home opener from Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court as the Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears come to town for a SAC showdown. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.
 
WU senior guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) and sophomore guard/forward Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) added 11 points and five rebounds each to finish second on the Bulldog scoring charts. Sophomore guard Caroline Averette (Midlothian, Va.) started her first career colleague game and scored 10 points while adding four rebounds and an assist. Senior guard Alex Tomlinson (Raleigh, N.C.) added five points, five rebounds and nine assists.
 
"Today was a great win for us," Wingate head women's basketball coach Ann Hancock says. "Playing a conference game so early in the season is a true test. We had several players step up and make big contributions. Alex Tomlinson did a fantastic job at the point guard position.  She took care of the ball and found open players where they could score."
 
"Taylor Helms, Taz Moody and the rest of our bench played well," Hancock says. "They provided a real spark. Rebounding was a big factor, but our ability to take care of the ball and get to the free throw line in the second half made the difference."
 
For the host Pioneers, freshman guard Tara Shields (Maryville, Tenn.) led all scorers with 15 points and one assist. Senior guard Benedicta Makakala (Stockholm, Sweden) ranked second on the Tusculum statistical charts with eight points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Sophomore guard Callie Patterson (McLeansville, N.C.) contributed six points with two boards and an assist coming off the bench.
 
The Pioneers took the early 3-0 lead on a Shields three-point jumper at the 9:35 mark in the first quarter; however, a Miscenko layup for Wingate cut the deficit down to 3-2 with 9:04 in the quarter. Tusculum led by a score of 6-4 with 5:20 to go in the first, but a three-pointer by Tomlinson gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the contest at 7-6 with 4:12 remaining in the opening quarter. Wingate never trailed in the contest from this point forward.
 
The Pioneers were within striking distance throughout the first half of play, trimming the deficit down to 17-14 on a Patterson three-pointer with 8:46 in the second quarter. Wingate led by a narrow margin of 25-21 heading into the halftime intermission.
 
It was a close affair in the opening minutes of the third quarter as Tusculum cut the lead down to 29-27 on a Makakala three-point jumper at the 7:24 mark. The Bulldogs used a 12-4 run to extend their lead out to 10 points at 41-31 with 3:53 remaining in the quarter. Wingate would maintain the double-digit advantage for the remainder of the third stanza and led 52-35 at its conclusion.
 
Tusculum began the fourth quarter with a mini 5-0 run to cut the 17-point deficit down to 12 at 52-40 with 9 minutes to go. Wingate then exploded for a huge 16-0 run to give the Bulldogs their largest advantage of the contest at 67-40 with 3:40 left in the final quarter. Wingate would maintain their commanding lead in the 20-point range for the remainder of the quarter and claim the victory in its conference-opening contest.
 
Wingate dominated Tusculum on the boards 47-19 and led 19-10 in assists as well. The Bulldogs shot 48.1 percent from the field compared to the Pioneer's 33.3 percent. Tusculum was hot from beyond the arc, finishing nine-of-16 from three-point range (56.3 percent), while Wingate was five-of-12 (41.7 percent) in three-pointers. The 'Dogs outscored Tusculum 38-12 in the paint. Wingate also maintained a 26-3 advantage in second chance points and the Bulldog reserves outscored Tusculum's bench 15-8.
 
(Wingate University athletic media relations/sports network student assistant Jackson Kaplan contributed this article. A sophomore from Raleigh, Kaplan is a Communication Studies major at Wingate. He is the son of Harrison and Dona Kaplan.)