GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Eight months ago, the Tusculum University women's basketball team celebrated the thrill of a South Atlantic Conference Tournament championship and the pain of being unable to participate in the NCAA Division II Tournament due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even with the departure of three 1,000-point scorers to graduation and the team's head coach to a conference rival, optimism is rampant as Tusculum embarks on an abbreviated 21-game schedule in 2020-21. First-year head coach Meagan Price has assembled a roster filled with returning contributors and several newcomers, and is ready to take on the challenge of defending the Pioneers' first SAC championship since 2011.
"The biggest thing for us is going to be executing offensively while being solid defensively," said Price, who won 38 games in two seasons at Hiwassee College in her previous head-coaching stint from 2016-18. "Our returning players are going to have bigger roles than they had last year. Their expectations will be different, and the standards will be higher."
Price was hired at Tusculum in May to replace Devan Carter, who left for SAC rival Lincoln Memorial after leading the Pioneers to 79 wins in five seasons including a 24-7 mark in 2019-20. Tusculum's 24 victories last season were its most since winning 26 games in 2008-09, behind a senior class that included three players who reached 1,000 career points -- Kasey Johnson (1,267 points), Mia Long (1,077) and Sydney Wilson (1,057) -- as part of the starting lineup.
The cupboard is far from bare for Price, who welcomes back senior post player Maddie Sutton and senior guard Jalia Arnwine among 10 returnees from a year ago, when the Pioneers went 16-6 in the SAC and finished in third place before beating Wingate, Carson-Newman and Anderson to claim the third SAC tournament title in school history. Joining the program are five transfer players and two freshmen to round out the roster of 17.
Sutton started all 31 games last season and led the Pioneers with 8.3 rebounds per game, ranking her fifth in the conference on the boards. The Walland, Tennessee native chipped in with 9.0 points per game and paced the squad with eight double-doubles, including three in a row in mid-February. The 6-foot Sutton reached double figures in scoring 17 times as a junior and had 13 games with double digits on the glass.
Arnwine averaged a career-high 7.8 points per game while starting 30 games a year ago. She led the team with 51 three-pointers and was 12th in the SAC in three-pointers per game at 1.6. The 5-6 Knoxville native brings a streak of 20 consecutive games with at least one three-pointer into her senior season, and is one shy of becoming the 11th player in program history to hit 100 threes in a career.
Senior guard Brianna Dixon joined the Pioneer program last season after two years at Walters State and appeared in all 31 games. The 6-footer from Decatur, Georgia moved into the starting lineup late in the year and averaged 2.2 steals per game in her nine starts.
Senior guard Aliyah Miller contributed 6.3 points per game primarily in a bench role last season, after two years at Vol State. The 5-7 native of Clarksville, Tennessee finished in double figures five times, including 25 in a win over Mars Hill on Jan. 8 in which she went 6-for-9 from three-point range.
Also returning as part of the senior class for the Pioneers are guards Elle Hutchinson and Katelyn Weems. Hutchinson transferred to Tusculum from Young Harris prior to last season, and the 5-8 native of Cairns, Australia averaged 4.4 points and 1.4 rebounds per game in 27 contests. Weems rejoins the program this season after appearing in five games during the 2018-19 season, and after two seasons with the Tusculum beach volleyball team. The 5-7 North Greene High School graduate played two seasons at UNC Wilmington (2016-18) before returning home.
Returning as underclassmen for the Pioneers are junior guards Marta Rodrigues and Mya Belton, along with sophomore guard Kirsten Click.
Rodrigues, who is preparing to run the point for the Pioneers this season after two years as an understudy to Long, came off the bench in 16 games last season. She scored a season-high 10 points against Johnson & Wales on Nov. 22. The 5-6 native of Lisbon, Portugal is averaging 2.3 points and 1.2 assists in 42 career games for the Pioneers.
Belton had a solid second half of the season for the Pioneers in 2019-20, enabling her to finish the year averaging 4.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in 26 contests. The 5-10 native of Blythewood, South Carolina knocked down 24 three-pointers last season and reached double figures in SAC Tournament wins over Wingate (13 points) and Carson-Newman (14 points). Belton is averaging 4.4 points per game with 41 three-pointers in 48 career contests.
Click cracked the starting lineup late in the regular season and ended up appearing in 21 contests as a freshman. The 5-8 native of Amelia, Ohio started seven games and finished the year averaging 2.9 points per game, while connecting on 18 three-pointers.
Guard Hannah Barr is back with the Pioneers this season after the 5-4 native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina took a redshirt during the 2019-20 season.
Five transfers were added to the Pioneer roster during the offseason, including junior forward Deidre Cheremond and sophomore guard Jordan Rogers.
Cheremond began her collegiate career at St. Petersburg College during the 2017-18 season and averaged 8.6 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. The 5-9 native of Cape Coral, Florida then went to the College of Central Florida for the 2019-20 season and led the team in rebounding at 7.2 per game. Cheremond had 10 double-doubles last season and averaged 8.7 points per game.
Rogers arrives at Tusculum after playing her freshman season at the University of Texas Permian Basin. Rogers averaged 8.6 points per game and scored in double figures eight times in 21 games, including four in a row in mid-January. A 5-5 native of Grand Prairie, Texas, Rogers averaged just over 18 minutes per game as a freshman.
Also joining the Pioneer program this season are senior center Shominique Pearson, sophomore guard Sophie Henry and sophomore guard Jilian King.
Pearson played for Price during the first of her two seasons at Hiwassee, averaging 8.3 points and 5.8 rebounds during the 2017-18 campaign. In 2018-19, the 6-foot native of Bruceton, Tennessee averaged 11.0 points and 8.6 rebounds per game with five double-doubles, including 13 points and 11 rebounds against the Pioneers on Feb. 6, 2019.
Henry comes to Tusculum from Trevecca Nazarene, where she appeared in 27 games and averaged 1.3 points and 1.0 assists per game as a freshman. Henry, a 5-7 native of Sevierville, Tennessee, was a five-sport standout at Gatlinburg-Pittman High School, where she earned All-Region honors in soccer and basketball, qualified for the state meet in cross country and track and was All-District in softball.
King played 20 games at Valdosta State last season, starting two games and averaging 2.0 points per game. The 5-3 native of Spring Hill, Tennessee shot 8-for-17 from three-point range during her freshman season.
The lone freshmen on the squad are guard Madison Sutton, a 5-9 product of Hampton, Georgia, and 5-9 guard Averie Price from Lebanon, Virginia.
Tusculum will play a 20-game conference schedule starting Saturday, Nov. 21 at Pioneer Arena against Wingate in a rematch of last year's SAC Championship tournament quarterfinal which the Pioneers won by a score of 82-40.
