Hickory, N.C. - The fourth-seeded Tusculum College Women's Basketball Team (19-9) upended top-seeded and No. 24 Lenoir-Rhyne University (21-7), 77-63, in the Semifinal Round of the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament Saturday evening at CVCC Arena.
The win propels Tusculum into the championship game for the third straight season and marks its first victory over a ranked opponent this year.
Tusculum (19-9) forced 14 Lenoir-Rhyne (21-7) turnovers, converting those miscues into 18 points.
The Bears edged the Pioneers on the glass by a 44-43 margin, including a 13-8 advantage on the offensive boards.
Tusculum knocked down 44.3 percent of its attempts from the floor, including a 46.2 percent clip from behind the arc (6-for-13), while holding the Bears to a 38.8 percent mark from the field.
The Pioneers' Jasmine Gunn (Nashville,?Tenn.)?led all scorers with 27 points, converting 12-of-15 attempts at the free throw line while recording three steals. The 4-11 All-American is now just nine points shy of becoming the sixth player in program history to reach the 1,500-point plateau, currently sitting sixth on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,491 career points.
Freshman Kendal Baxter (Sevierville, Tenn.) connected on five-of-nine attempts from behind the arc to record 17 points and set a program rookie record with 88 three-pointers so far this season.
Junior Catherine Hintz joined Gunn and Baxter in double figures, recording her sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while senior Kat Spears chipped in 14 points and eight rebounds. Jasmine Parker also dished out a season-high nine assists for the Pioneers.
Lenoir-Rhyne placed four players in double figures, led by senior Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.), who connected on seven-of-14 attempts from the floor to record 14 points on the night.
Bear senior guard Jami Safrit (Hickory, N.C.) poured in 13 points, including a trio of three-pointers, while senior center Denise Moore (Newport News, Va.) and sophomore guard Cameron Sealey (Gastonia, N.C.) chipped in 10 markers each.
Senior guard Brittany Mitch (McLean, Va.) also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds while Holt led all players with four steals.
The Bears jumped out to an early lead in the first half, scoring 13 of the first 21 points to open a 13-8 advantage on a jumper by Moore with 15:27 to go in the period. Tusculum responded with a quick 5-0 spurt, knotting the score at 13-13 on Baxter's first three-pointer of the game with 15:03 left in the half.
Lenoir-Rhyne answered with an 8-0 run to open its largest lead of the game with 12:19 to go in the half, taking a 21-13 advantage on a jumper by Holt. The Pioneers battled back, launching an 8-0 run of their own to tie the game at 21-21 before closing out the half with a 16-9 spurt over the final seven and a half minutes to head into the intermission with a 41-34 lead.
The Pioneers continued to dictate the tempo in the opening minutes of the second half, extending the lead to 57-42 with a 16-8 run over the first ten minutes of the period, which was capped by Baxter's fourth three-pointer of the game with 9:52 to play.? Tusculum would hold the double-digit lead for the remainder of the contest to punch its ticket to Sunday's championship game with its second straight win over Lenoir-Rhyne.
Tusculum returns to the court Sunday in the tournament championship against the winner of the second women's semifinal between No. 2 seed Newberry College and No. 3 seed Carson-Newman College.
Lenoir-Rhyne now awaits word on a possible at-large bid to next weekend's NCAA Division II Southeast Regional. The 64-team field will be announced via live webcast through www.ncaa.com Sunday night at 9 p.m.
