Jasmine Gunn finished with 20 points, a season-high 10 rebounds, seven assists and five steals as Tusculum College solidified its hold on first place in the South Atlantic Conference with a 69-48 victory over Wingate University in Women's basketball action at Pioneer Arena Saturday afternoon.

Catherine Hintz added 18 points and a season-best 15 rebounds off the bench for the Pioneers (16-6, 12-2 SAC), who won their 10th consecutive game and opened up a three-game lead in the SAC standings over the Bulldogs (14-8, 9-5 SAC) with four games to play. Tusculum can clinch a share of the SAC regular-season championship with a win Wednesday night at Anderson.

A tenacious Tusculum defense forced Wingate into 22 turnovers and held the Bulldogs to just 27.8 percent shooting (15-for-54) for the contest. The Pioneers also finished with a 47-35 advantage in rebounding, including 22 offensive boards which they converted into 21 second-chance points.

Gunn reached the 20-point mark for the 12th time this season and the third consecutive game. She shot 6-for-13 from the field, including a three-pointer, and connected on 7-for-10 from the foul line. It was her second consecutive double-double, coming on the heels of a 21-point, 10-assist performance against Carson-Newman on Wednesday night.

Kurie Washington led Wingate with 13 points while Simone Rutledge added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. As a team, the Bulldogs shot 3-for-16 from three-point range but went 15-for-19 from the foul line.

Both teams wore pink socks in recognition of WBCA Pink Zone Day, which promotes breast cancer awareness both inside and outside the basketball world. Half of all gate proceeds for the game will be donated to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.

Wingate controlled the action for the first 10 minutes of the contest, opening up a 6-0 lead after two minutes and leading by as many as eight points on two occasions. Trailing 14-6 with 12:56 left in the first half, the Pioneers would score 24 of the game's next 28 points to take command. Hintz had nine points and seven rebounds during the run, capping it with a putback jumper with 1:40 to play.

Tusculum led 30-22 at halftime behind Hintz's nine points, while Gunn had five points, five rebounds and a game-high three assists. Wingate, which shot just 6-for-29 in the opening half, was led by six points from Washington.

In the second half, the Pioneers opened play with a 15-4 run to go on top 45-26 with 14:35 left following a basket by Kendal Baxter. Wingate whittled the deficit to a dozen on two occasions, but Gunn scored six points in a 90-second span to lift the Pioneers to their largest lead of the afternoon at 64-41 with 5:05 to go.

Staci Hicks also finished in double figures for the Pioneers, tallying 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting in 19 minutes of action. Linda Aughburns turned in a strong defensive showing with eight rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots and also tallied six points on the offensive side of the ball.

Tusculum will carry its 10-game winning streak back into action on Wednesday night at Anderson, beginning at 6 p.m. The Pioneers defeated the Trojans 76-52 in the teams' first meeting in Greeneville on January 19 behind 21 points from Gunn.