GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's basketball team will try to duplicate its formula for success in January when the Pioneers open the first full week of February with games at Virginia-Wise on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. and at home against Queens on Saturday at 2 p.m.

In January, the Pioneers opened the month with a 56-47 homecourt loss to Anderson and then won five consecutive games. Tusculum kicked off February at home with Newberry on Saturday and lost 73-60 to the Wolves, after closing January with an 88-84 double-overtime win at Lenoir-Rhyne last Wednesday.

Tusculum begins the week with a 15-5 overall record and tied for third place with Carson-Newman in the South Atlantic Conference standings with a 10-4 league mark. Anderson has regained sole possession of first place in the conference at 12-2, with Catawba in second at 11-3 following back-to-back losses.

RECAPPING THE WEEK
On Wednesday, Kasey Johnson scored a career-high 34 points and Mia Long added a season-high 25 points as the Pioneers recovered after squandering a late fourth-quarter lead to defeat Lenoir-Rhyne 88-84 in double overtime. The Pioneers used a 9-0 run in the second overtime period to pull away after the Bears had forced overtime by scoring twice in the final 1.8 seconds of regulation, tying the game on a free throw with 0.4 seconds left.

Johnson, who set a career high by playing every second of the 50 minutes, shot 12-for-24 from the field, 4-for-10 from three-point range and 6-for-8 from the foul line to surpass her previous career best of 28 points set against Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 18, 2017.

Saturday, Newberry built a 15-point lead after one quarter and went on to a 73-60 victory over the Pioneers. The Wolves shot 51.1 percent as a team, while the Pioneers shot 30.9 percent (21-for-68) from the field and 4-for-25 from three-point range, including misses on each of their first 13 attempts.

Long led the Pioneers with a game-high 20 points to go along with seven rebounds and six steals, and Maddie Sutton recorded 16 points and matched her career high with 13 rebounds for her second straight double-double and fourth in the last seven games.

LOOKING AHEAD
Virginia-Wise (10-10, 6-8 SAC) is coming off back-to-back wins at Mars Hill last Wednesday (62-57) and at home against nationally-ranked Catawba on Saturday (65-54). The Cavaliers are 5-2 at home in conference games, with their only losses coming to Anderson (64-62) and Lenoir-Rhyne (68-64). UVa-Wise enters the week tied with Lenoir-Rhyne and Lincoln Memorial for seventh place in the league.

In the win over Catawba, the Cavaliers used just seven players with three playing the entire 40 minutes, including Nia Vanzant who scored 21 points and had seven rebounds. Caitlyn Ross finished with a triple-double of 14 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists as UVa-Wise held Catawba to 26.3 percent shooting including 3-for-23 from three-point range.

Vanzant's 21-point game against Catawba was her sixth 20-point game of the season, one of which was her 23 points in the first meeting of the season between the Pioneers and Cavaliers on Dec. 18. Cynita Webb leads the Cavaliers in scoring at 16.1 points per game, but has been out for the past two weeks due to injury. Ross averages 13.6 points per game and leads the conference with 6.2 assists per game.

The Cavaliers rank second in the SAC in scoring offense (74.3 ppg), field-goal percentage at 44.0 percent and third in free-throw shooting at 71.5 percent. On defense, UVa-Wise is next-to-last in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 71.7 points per contest.

Tusculum is 17-6 all-time against UVa-Wise, including an 89-85 win over the Cavaliers at Pioneer Arena in December. The Pioneers are making their first visit to Wise since a 74-66 loss to the host Cavs on Nov. 28, 2015, and are 6-6 all-time on the road in the series with their last win by an 80-70 score on Dec. 11, 2000.

Queens (4-16, 3-11 SAC) slipped into 11th place in the conference entering the week after losing its last four games, including a 90-51 loss at Anderson last Wednesday and a 55-51 setback at home to Lincoln Memorial on Saturday. The Royals host Coker on Wednesday before heading to Greeneville on Saturday, trying to snap a five-game road losing streak.

The Royals shot 30 percent in the loss to Lincoln Memorial, but Kristian Eanes led the offense with 21 points. Eanes had a team-high 17 points in the loss to Anderson as the Royals shot 28.8 percent from the field and turned the ball over 22 times.

Eanes has scored in double figures in 14 straight games entering the week, and 18 out of 19 games this season with six games of 20 or more. Eanes is fourth in the conference in scoring at 16.8 points per game and second in the league with 3.2 steals per game, while leading the SAC in free throws made (101) and attempted (142). Injuries have impacted the Royals, as Jaymi Golden (10.7 ppg) has missed the last eight games and Jaleah Goff (10.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg) has been out since just before Thanksgiving.

Queens ranks 11th out of 12 SAC teams in points per game (59.3 ppg), field goal percentage (.369), three-point percentage (.243), rebound margin (minus 7.8 per game) and assists per game (9.9 apg). Queens is holding its opponents to 27.6 percent from three-point range to rank second in the league, and the Royals are third in free throw attempts per game (20.7).

Tusculum's 71-55 victory at Queens on Dec. 21 was the fifth straight win for the Pioneers over the Royals and improved their record in the all-time series to 13-3. Queens is 1-7 all-time in Greeneville, with their lone win a 60-45 victory on Jan. 14, 2017.

LEADER BOARD
With back-to-back 20-point games, Long now ranks 10th in the SAC in scoring at 14.2 points per game. She continues to lead the conference in steals per game at 3.8, ranking her second in Division II, and has 11 consecutive games with three steals or more. Long is sixth in the SAC in field goal percentage (49.5 percent) and needs 84 points to become the 19th player in school history to score 1,000 career points.

Johnson, who has scored in double figures in four of the last five games, has moved up to 11.2 points per game. She ranks 11th in the conference in rebounding at 6.7 per game, and is ninth in the SAC in three-point percentage at 36.9 percent (24-for-65). Johnson would lead the SAC in free-throw shooting at 88.1 percent but is three made free throws shy of qualifying (37-for-42). Sutton, who has four double-doubles in the last seven games, is eighth in the SAC in rebounding at 8.0 per game while averaging 8.8 points per contest.

As a team, the Pioneers continue to lead the SAC in fewest turnovers per game (15.6), turnover margin (+7.3, 13th in DII and in steals per game (12.2, 16th in DII), and rank second in turnovers forced per game (22.9, 9th in DII). The Pioneers are fourth in the conference in three-point defense (29.7 percent) and have dropped to fourth in scoring defense at 61.7 points per game.

FOLLOW THE GAMES
Brian Stayton describes all the action of Tusculum women's basketball on the Pioneer Sports Network. Fans can listen to the games locally on WSMG Radio at 95.5 FM and 1450 AM, and on-line at jewel955.com. The Pioneer Pre-Game show begins 15 minutes before tip-off, at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday prior to the game at Virginia-Wise and at 1:45 p.m. Saturday before the Queens contest. Live video and live stats links are also available at www.TusculumPioneers.com.