BLUEFIELD, Va. – The Bluefield College women's basketball team knocked Appalachian Athletic Conference opponent No. 15 Tennessee Wesleyan from the ranks of the unbeaten on Wednesday night, taking a gritty 59-58 win in overtime at the Dome Gymnasium.
 
Bluefield moves to 5-7 overall and 3-4 in AAC play with the win. The loss makes TWC 9-1 overall and 5-1 in league games.
 
Tennessee Wesleyan closed regulation on a 14-0 run to send the game to overtime, and continued by scoring the first four points of the extra stanza. The teams exchanged a pair of free throws, making it 58-54 in favor of TWC, but Bluefield scored the final five points to take the win.
 
Destiny Tolliver, who racked up a career-high 17 points with 16 coming in the second half and overtime, scored a layin to pull BC within two. Whitney Smith then knocked down a pair of free throws with 42 seconds remaining to make it 58-all.
 
A pair of missed free throws from Melanie Barker left the game all-square. Tolliver was fouled with three seconds remaining and knocked down the first for the 59-58 lead. TWC got a long-range attempt following the missed second free throw, but the try was not close.
 
Smith matched her career high with 15 points, knocking down three triples on the night and going 5-for-10 from the field. The sophomore tallied 10 of her points in the second half and overtime.
 
Jenna Adams led TWC with a game-high 21 points, while Armeka Booker and Jara Gasper each chipped in 10. Adams and Booker each logged double-doubles, pulling down 13 and 10 rebounds, respectively—helping the Bulldogs to a 49-29 edge on the glass.
 
Bluefield trailed by as many as eight on the night, as Armeka Booker's layin with 5:48 remaining in the first half made it 21-13.
 
Tennessee Wesleyan held a 27-22 lead at the break, but Bluefield opened the second half on a 13-3 run to take a 35-30 lead with 14:24 remaining. Bluefield went 4-for-7 from the field and hit 5-of-6 attempts at the line in the span, being led by seven points from Tolliver. Maryah Mazyck added four and Smith two, while TWC was just 1-for-7 during the span and committed four turnovers.
 
The visitors pulled within three at 37-34, but a 15-4 rally extended BC's lead to its largest of the night, 52-38 with 4:10 to play. BC found its range from beyond-the-arc in this run, hitting 3-of-5 long-distance tries.
 
Smith began the rally with a trey and added one more in the stretch, while Jade McDaniel dialed one up as well. BC was 6-for-12 from the field in the rally, and TWC had seven turnovers during this stretch of play, which covered eight minutes.
 
TWC would not go away though, as a 14-0 run from the Bulldogs over the final 3:51 pulled the visitors even and forced overtime. Bluefield was 0-for-4 during this stretch and had three turnovers as TWC fought its way back.
 
Adams got a layin with nine seconds remaining and added a free throw to square the game at 52-52. Bluefield turned the ball over in its final possession, but the Bulldogs couldn't get a shot off as time expired to lead to the overtime period.
 
Bluefield shot 33.9% (20-for-59) on the night, compared to 36.5% (19-for-52) for the Bulldogs. Both teams were 33.3% from three-point range, BC making six and TWC eight.
 
The Lady Rams limited their turnovers to 15, while TWC had a season-high 27 turnovers. BC forced many of them, logging 18 steals. Bluefield was able to exchange the TWC miscues for 20 points.
 
Bluefield gets a slight break from competition, not playing again until its Dec. 10 matchup with University of Charleston. Tip is set for 7 p.m.