Greeneville, Tenn. - The Tusculum Women's Basketball Team (10-5, 4-3) handed Lenoir-Rhyne (11-4, 6-1) its first South Atlantic Conference loss of the year, 72-54, Wednesday evening at Pioneer Arena.

Tusculum's Breaira Barksdale (Baltimore, Md.) led all scorers with 16 points and hit three treys in the second half as the Pioneers snapped the Bears' six-game winning streak.

Senior guard Caroline Laughter (Hickory, N.C.) finished with a team-high 14 points for Lenoir-Rhyne, who fell into a first-place tie with Anderson at the top of the league standings.

Tusculum held a 25-19 edge entering intermission then took control in the second half of action.

The Pioneers led by as many as 23 points on a three-pointer by Jama Hammontree (Greenback, Tenn.) with 7:36 remaining for a 59-36 advantage.

L-R, which shot just 31 percent (18-of-58) for the contest, cut the led to 12 points with just over a minute left but the deficit was too much to overcome.

April McCann (Chattanooga, Tenn.) added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Pioneers, who held a 48-36 edge on the boards and shot 51 percent (16-of-31) in the second half.

Freshman guard Jordan Hiatt (Mount Airy, N.C.)?tallied 11 points off the bench for the Bears, who were limited to just 50 percent (14-of-28) shooting from the free throw line.

In the next round of South Atlantic Conference games on Saturday, Lenoir-Rhyne faces Mars Hill on the road beginning at 2:00 p.m., while Tusculum plays at Newberry at 6:00 p.m.