GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- For the first time since 2013, the Tusculum University women's basketball team has advanced to the semifinals of the Pilot/Flying J South Atlantic Conference Championship tournament. The Pioneers will face Carson-Newman in Saturday's semifinal round at 2:30 p.m. from Timmons Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.
The Pioneers (22-7), the third seed in the tournament, moved into the semifinal round with an 82-40 blowout win over Wingate on Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena. Tusculum set a SAC tournament record with 14 three-pointers and posted their largest-ever margin of victory over Wingate, and earned the most lopsided win in the tournament by any team since 2002.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Tusculum will try to beat second-seeded Carson-Newman (22-7) for the third time this season, after winning both regular-season games by erasing double-digit deficits. The Pioneers have never won three games in a season from the Eagles, and have won three in a row over Carson-Newman just once, spanning the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.
Saturday's game will be the third time that Tusculum and Carson-Newman have met in the SAC tournament, all coming in the semifinal round. In 2006, the Pioneers beat the Eagles 76-59 and in 2009, Tusculum downed Carson-Newman 85-70. Both games were played at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, North Carolina.
Tusculum's last game in the SAC semifinals was on March 9, 2013 at Timmons Arena against Lenoir-Rhyne, a 59-51 overtime victory for the Pioneers. Carson-Newman's last semifinal appearance was in 2018, when the Eagles beat Lincoln Memorial 79-73 and then defeated Wingate 79-70 for their first tournament title since 2005. The Pioneers are 6-2 all-time in the semifinal round, while the Eagles are 6-12.
TUSCULUM PREVIEW
Senior guard Mia Long was named first-team All-South Atlantic Conference after leading the league in steals and averaging 14.2 points per game. Long tied her career high with eight steals in the win over Wingate, to go along with 13 points and eight assists against just one turnover. Long, who is two steals away from tying the school single-season record of 109 set by Mitzi Alexander in 1991-92, ranks second in Division II in steals per game at 3.69, trailing only Kyaja Williams of Bowie State (4.07 per game).
Graduate forward Kasey Johnson was an honorable mention All-SAC choice and averages 10.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Johnson scored 11 points in Wednesday's win over Wingate and averages 11.9 points per game on the road compared to 9.0 points at home. In the last four games, Johnson has just one turnover and is averaging 2.5 assists per game over that span.
Junior guard Jalia Arnwine has made at least one three-pointer in 18 consecutive games, since January 1, and is five threes shy of becoming the 11th player in program history to reach 100 three-pointers. Arnwine ranks ninth in the SAC with 47 three-pointers, seven of which came in the two regular-season meetings with Carson-Newman including the game-winner with 25.4 seconds left in the Feb. 19 victory.
Junior forward Maddie Sutton just missed her ninth double-double of the season on Wednesday, finishing with eight points and 10 rebounds to go along with a career-high five assists. Sutton is sixth in the conference in rebounding at 8.5 per game, and ninth in foul shooting at 75.6 percent.
Tusculum's bench has scored in double figures 24 times in 29 games, averaging 21.5 points per contest. Aliyah Miller has been the Pioneers' top scorer off the bench at 5.7 points per game, while Mya Belton leads the Tusculum subs with 20 three-pointers. Five Pioneers have made 12 or more three-pointers off the bench, as Tusculum's subs have drained 93 three-pointers
The Pioneers won the SAC statistical championship for total steals, and rank 10th nationally in steals per game at 12.7. Tusculum is also first in the conference in fewest turnovers per game (14.4), with 12 or fewer turnovers in eight of the last 10 games. The Pioneers, who force 23.0 turnovers per game to rank seventh in Division II, are fifth in the nation in turnover margin at plus-8.55 per game. Tusculum ranks second in the conference in scoring defense at 59.5 points per game, and fifth in offense at 71.9 points per contest.
CARSON-NEWMAN PREVIEW
The Eagles beat Lenoir-Rhyne 105-71 in Wednesday's quarterfinal round as six players scored in double figures, led by Kayla Marosites with 21 points and 13 rebounds. The Eagles shot 53.2 percent (42-for-79) from the field and outrebounded the Bears 52-27 in the win.
Marosites, who was named first-team All-SAC for the second straight season, is second in the conference in scoring at 17.9 points per game and first in rebounding at 12.5 per game (sixth in Division II). Marosites, whose 24 double-doubles in 29 games are second in Division II to the 29 double-doubles by Jamiyah Johnson of Davis & Elkins, also leads the SAC and is 11th in the country in foul shooting at 88.8 percent.
Freshman guard Braelyn Wykle was named SAC Freshman of the Year and first-team All-Conference, and averages 17.2 points per game, with 17 consecutive games in double figures. Wykle has made 76 three-pointers and is shooting 45.0 percent from three-point range to lead the conference in both categories, and has made 27 of her last 28 from the free-throw line.
Junior guard Addison Byrd earned honorable mention All-SAC honors after averaging 9.9 points per game off the bench and shooting 48.6 percent from the field. Byrd has scored in double figures in three straight games, and has a season high of 22 points in 22 minutes against Queens on Jan. 11.
Carson-Newman has reached the 100-point mark seven times this season and leads the SAC in scoring at 85.2 points per game (sixth in Division II). The Eagles lead the SAC in all three shooting categories, ranking fifth in Division II in three-point percentage at 38.9 percent, 10th in free-throw shooting at 79.0 percent, and 31st in overall field-goal percentage at 44.9 percent. The Eagles rank second in the country in three-pointers per game with 10.9, behind Glenville State at 12.3, and fifth in assists per game (19.0).
HISTORY
Since Tusculum joined the SAC for the 1999-2000 season, the Pioneers are 13-29 against Carson-Newman during the regular season. This year's season sweep came as the Pioneers rallied from 10 down for a 71-66 road win on Jan. 15, then came back from a 13-point deficit for a 79-74 victory at Pioneer Arena on Feb. 19. The sweep marked just the fourth time in 21 seasons that the Pioneers won both regular-season meetings with the Eagles (2007-08, 2010-11, 2012-13).
SEMIFINALS PREVIEW
Top-seeded Anderson (25-4) will face fifth-seeded Catawba (23-5) in the first semifinal game on Saturday, tipping off at noon. The Trojans escaped an upset bid from Lincoln Memorial by a score of 59-57 in the quarterfinals, while Catawba traveled to Newberry and beat the fourth-seeded Wolves 56-47. Catawba and Anderson split their two regular-season meetings, with the home team winning each matchup.
The winners of Saturday's semifinal games will play Sunday at 1 p.m. for the conference championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament. All four teams in the SAC semifinals are listed in positions four through seven in this week's NCAA Southeast Region rankings.
FOLLOW THE GAME
Brian Stayton describes all the action of Tusculum women's basketball on the Pioneer Sports Network. Fans can listen to the game 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 2:15 p.m. Saturday. Live video and live stats links are also available at www.TusculumPioneers.com.