Tusculum College wrapped up at least a share of the South Atlantic Conference Women's basketball regular-season championship with a 55-51 victory over Catawba College at Pioneer Arena Saturday afternoon.

Jasmine Gunn scored a game-high 20 points and sank the clinching free throws with 4.0 seconds left for the Pioneers (17-7, 13-3 SAC), who nearly let a 13-point second-half lead get away before holding on for the win over the Indians (14-12, 8-8 SAC).

Dana Hicks led Catawba with 19 points and eight rebounds, but was the only player to reach double figures as the Indians shot 33.9 percent (20-for-59) from the field and went scoreless over the final 3:18 after cutting a 47-34 deficit to 53-51.

Joining Gunn in double figures were Catherine Hintz, with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Kendal Baxter, who finished with 11 points in 21 minutes off the Pioneer bench. Jasmine Parker led Tusculum on the glass with a career-high 12 rebounds, but the Pioneers were edged 41-40 on the boards by the Indians.

With the win, Tusculum holds a two-game lead over Lenoir-Rhyne with two games remaining in the regular season. The Pioneers and the Bears will meet Wednesday night at 6 p.m. in Hickory, where Tusculum can lock up the outright SAC title and the top seed in the Food Lion SAC Tournament with a victory.

Tusculum led for most of the game's first 10 minutes, but Catawba used a 15-5 run to take a 26-21 lead on a jumper by Kisha Long with 3:27 left in the first half. From there, it was all Pioneers as Baxter hit a three-pointer and followed on the next possession with three foul shots to give Tusculum a 27-26 lead with 1:52 left in the first half. Gunn followed with a pair of jumpers in the final minute, the last beating the halftime buzzer and sending Tusculum to intermission with a 31-26 lead.

Gunn shot 6-for-10 and led all players with 13 points in the first half, while Hintz added six points and seven rebounds. Hicks tallied nine points to pace the Indians in the opening 20 minutes.

Leading 33-30 with 17:34 left, Tusculum went on a 12-2 run over the next 5 1/2 minutes to take a 45-32 lead on a fast-break three-pointer by Baxter with exactly 12 minutes remaining. A jumper by Linda Aughburns with 8:45 left gave the Pioneers a 47-34 lead, but back-to-back threes by Milica Ivanovic and Long cut the Indian deficit to 47-40 with 7:35 remaining.

Catawba continued to chip away at the Tusculum lead, pulling with 53-51 on a putback by Hicks with 3:18 to go. The Indians had three possessions to tie the game, but missed two shots sandwiched around a turnover. With just three team fouls with 15 seconds to go, the Indians were forced to foul three times to put the Pioneers into the bonus. Gunn was eventually fouled with 4.0 seconds to go and swished both free throws to seal the win.

Both teams controlled the ball well, with the Pioneers committing just 11 turnovers and the Indians committing 15 miscues. However, Tusculum was able to convert Catawba's 15 turnovers into 21 points while the Indians cashed in just eight points off the Pioneer miscues.

Aughburns finished with eight points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals in 34 minutes of action for the Pioneers, while Parker also added three steals. Ivanovic, who entered the game averaging 15.8 points per game, attempted just five shots in 37 minutes and finished with five points along with eight rebounds for Catawba.

Prior to the game, the Pioneers honored seniors Gunn, Parker, Hintz and Brittni Oliver before they played their final regular-season home game. Tusculum is assured a home game in the quarterfinal round of the Food Lion SAC Tournament on Wednesday, March 2, with the opponent and game time to be determined.