GREENWOOD, S.C. --- Southeast Region Player of the Year Jasmine Gunn poured in 21 points and Kendal Baxter knocked down four 3-pointers to lead the Tusculum College Women's basketball team to a 69-63 come-from-behind win over 19th-ranked Clayton State University in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Friday afternoon. The eight-team regional is being held at Finis Horne Arena on the campus of Lander University.

With the upset win over the second-seeded Lakers (24-7), the Pioneers (21-9, No. 7 seed in regional) advance to Saturday's semifinal and will face No. 20 Francis Marion University at 5 p.m. The third-seeded Patriots eliminated No. 6 seed Newberry College, 103-96 in Friday's opening contest.

Gunn, a 4-11 junior guard from Nashville, Tenn., led all scorers with 21 points, shooting 6-of-11 of from the floor, while Baxter (Sevierville, Tenn.) recorded 14 points on the afternoon. Jasmine Parker (Rex, Ga.) and Catherine Hintz (Hastings, Minn.) joined Gunn and Baxter in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively, as Parker and Kat Spears (Memphis, Tenn.) each pulled down a game-high eight rebounds in the victory.

CSU's Tanisha Woodward poured in 15 points, including 13 in the opening half. Breanna Fort recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Lesheria Stevens added 10 markers as the season ends for the defending Southeast Regional Champions.

Clayton State led the entire opening half and would take its largest lead of the game at 33-20 at the 4:13 mark, thanks to an 11-4 run. Tusculum would answer with a 10-6 spurt to cut the lead to 39-30 heading into the locker room. Brittni Oliver (Kokomo, Ind.) posted four markers and six assists, while Baxter canned a trey during the run.

The Lakers, who entered the game second in the nation in steals per game, forced Tusculum into 14 turnovers in the opening period, converting those miscues into 10 points.

Clayton State would move its lead back out to double digits at 43-32 with 18:05 left in the game. The Pioneers responded with a seven straight points by Gunn as the South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year led TC to within four (43-39) with 16:12 remaining.

The Lakers answered with an 11-3 spurt to lead by 10 again (52-42) with 11 minutes remaining following a jumper by Genesis Kelly.

The Pioneers launched a furious 13-2 run over the next five minutes to take their first lead of the game at 55-54 with 6:03 left on the clock.

CSU would score back-to-back buckets by Woodward and Fort as the Lakers led 59-58 with 4:10 to go. Tusculum made its biggest push of the afternoon as Gunn accounted for five points in a 7-0 TC run, including a steal and a three-point play as Tusculum charged out to a 65-59 lead with 1:52 left.

The Lakers cut the TC lead to four after a pair of Fort free throws with 52 seconds remaining, but the Pioneers limited CSU to only one made field goal in the final four minutes of the game to record its first ever win over Clayton State and avenge a regional semifinal loss to the Lakers in last year's NCAA Tournament.

Tusculum finished the game shooting 52.3 percent from the floor, including 13-of-24 in the second half (54.2%). The Lakers missed their nine of its last 10 shots to shoot 37.5 percent from the floor on the afternoon.

With her 21-point effort, Gunn passes former All-SAC standout Ashli Oliver (2005-09) for fifth place on the program's all-time scoring list (1,527). Baxter's four treys moved her into a tie with Nikki Van Dine for third on the program's single-season triples list with her 97th three-point field goal of the campaign.

Tusculum, who is making its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance, will be playing in the Southeast Regional semifinal for a second straight season.

Saturday's contest with Francis Marion will be the second time the Pioneers and Patriots have met on the hardwood this season. FMU defeated Tusculum 83-71 on Dec. 17 in the OrthoCarolina Classic in Wingate, N.C. The all-time series between two teams is tied at 1-1.

- TC -

Quotes from Tusculum Head Coach Adell Harris

"It was a tale of two halves. Clayton State played the way they wanted to in the first half and we turned it over 14 times. They out-toughed us mentally and emotionally, but give them credit, they are a very good basketball team. Our switch to a 2-3 zone in the second half gave us the ability to get stops. We wanted them to take contested jump shots in the paint the entire game. I'm proud of how our group toughed it out in the second half to get a win against a very good Clayton State team."

(How the zone affected the game)
"I think we had to work hard to get defensive boards against them. It's not an easy task whether you are in a 2-3 zone or in a man. I don't think we were able to rest; every possession felt like we were in a grind. On offense it wasn't easy because they press you and trap you all over the place. Nothing is easy; our kids are exhausted and had to play exhausted."

(Players around Gunn stepped up as she wasn't feeling well)
"I challenged everybody at halftime. Kendal Baxter shot the ball well and kept us close. They limited us in the first half with getting the ball to Catherine (Hintz). Jasmine (Gunn) didn't play up to herself in the first half but Jasmine Parker came out and stepped up huge for us in the second half as Hintz did too. We have a lot of capable people, but we had to play tougher in the second half."

(The current run that the team is on)
"I don't know how to characterize it, I just tell our group to expect the best and give it everything you've got. Don't be happy with competing, you have to play tough. I don't want to see us lose like we played in the first half. If we have to lose I want it to be fighting, and when you fight sometimes you end up on the winning end like we did here tonight. We defended well, that is the reason we won tonight. It wasn't our execution since we turned it over 25 times, or our free throw shooting. I'm proud of our group."

Junior guard Jasmine Gunn- (contribution when it counted)
"Coach told me at halftime that I wasn't playing tough enough and that I needed to step it up. I knew I couldn't just let my teammates do it all, I had to carry part of it too."

(On the team's current run)

"It is awesome. Being able to get the ball down low to the post and also have Brittney Oliver and Jasmine Parker step up for us makes it a lot of fun."