The Tusculum College Women's basketball team is ranked among the NCAA Division II leaders in several statistical categories, according to the latest report released Monday afternoon.

The Pioneers are 24th in both scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, rank 35th in turnover margin and 43rd in three-point field goals per game. Individually, senior guard Kendal Baxter also appears in Monday's stats report, ranking 11th in three-pointers per game at 3.1 per contest.

Tusculum has held opponents to an average of 54.9 points per game, a figure that leads the South Atlantic Conference. The Pioneers have not allowed more than 68 points in a game and have yielded less than 60 points nine times in their 12 games.

The Pioneers have limited the opposition to 34.4 percent shooting from the field this season, a figure that is good for second in the SAC and 24th nationally. Only three of Tusculum's 12 opponents have shot better than 40 percent from the field, while the Pioneers have kept the other team under 30 percent a total of five times.

The Pioneers are atop the SAC in turnover margin, forcing 21.8 turnovers per game while committing just 16.9 per contest for a margin of 4.67 per game. Tusculum has finished with a negative turnover differential only two times through its first 12 games.

As a team, the Pioneers have drilled 80 three-pointers through 12 games for an average of 6.67 per contest that ranks second in the conference and 43rd overall. Tusculum has made at least one three-pointer in all 12 games, including three games of 11 or better.

Baxter has accounted for 37 of those 80 three-pointers to place her 11th nationally in threes per game. Her 10 treys in a 69-55 win over fourth-ranked Rollins on Nov. 23 are the most by a player in Division II this season.

The Pioneers (8-4, 2-2 SAC) open a stretch of three straight home games Wednesday night at 6 p.m. against Anderson (9-5, 3-1 SAC) at Pioneer Arena.