GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University went on runs of 11-0 in the first half and 12-0 in the second half as the Pioneers remained undefeated with a 67-44 win over Lenoir-Rhyne University in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
Jalia Arnwine matched her career high with 19 points and Brianna Dixon added 19 points for the Pioneers (6-0, 6-0 SAC), who have opened the season with six straight wins for the first time since 1994-95. Kirsten Click equaled her career best with 12 points off the bench as the Pioneers defeated the Bears for the seventh straight meeting.
Emily Harman finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Bears (0-3, 0-3 SAC), who shot 30.5 percent (18-for-59) from the field and hit just 1-for-15 in the third quarter as Tusculum outscored Lenoir-Rhyne 17-6 in the period.
Click was 4-for-4 from three-point range to match her career highs of four threes and 12 points set against Queens last season. Maddie Sutton just missed her fifth double-double of the season, but finished with a career-high seven assists to go along with nine points and a game-best 11 rebounds.
Tusculum shot 35.1 percent (20-for-57) from the field as a team, but went 9-for-25 from three-point range and hit 18-for-22 from the foul line. Lenoir-Rhyne was 3-for-18 from beyond the arc and just 5-for-6 from the stripe in the contest.
Arnwine, who hit three three-pointers in the game, equaled her career best of 19 points set twice last season. Dixon, who has led or shared the team lead in scoring in each of the last three games, scored 17 of her 19 points in the first half as the Pioneers built a 36-19 lead at intermission. She finished the game 7-for-13 from the field, including a three-pointer, and 4-for-4 from the foul line.
Lenoir-Rhyne scored the game's first two points on a basket by Harman, but Tusculum came back with 11 straight points including seven from Dixon and four from Arnwine to go ahead 11-2 with 5:29 left in the first quarter. Tusculum led 19-11 after one quarter as Dixon led all players with 13 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field and from the foul line.
The Bears cut the deficit to 19-15 on a basket by Kiara Moore early in the second quarter, while the Pioneers went scoreless from the field for more than 5 1/2 minutes until a Belton three-pointer gave the Pioneers a 22-15 edge. Click then hit back-to-back threes to extend the Tusculum lead to 28-17 with 2:58 left in the half, and the Pioneers ended the half with an 8-0 run to take a 36-19 lead to the locker room.
Dixon led all players with 17 points on 6-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from the foul line, while Arnwine and Click had six points apiece. Sutton led the Pioneers with five rebounds and five assists as Tusculum shot 35.5 percent (11-for-31) from the field. Harman and Blaikley Crooks each scored four points to lead the Bears, who were 9-for-27 (33.3 percent) from the floor and 1-for-8 from three-point range in the half.
The Pioneers led 38-24 following two free throws by Harman with 6:28 left in the third quarter, then heated up from long range. Tusculum hit four of its next five from beyond the arc, two each from Click and Arnwine, to move ahead 50-25 with 2:21 left in the third quarter. Lenoir-Rhyne missed its final 12 shots from the field in the quarter as Tusculum carried a 53-25 advantage into the fourth period.
Tusculum took its largest lead of the game at 62-32 following two free throws from Arnwine with 5:40 left. Harman scored six of her 12 points in the final five minutes as the Bears outscored the Pioneers 12-5 down the stretch.
Hanna McClung hit all three of the Bears' three-pointers in the game and finished with nine points along with five rebounds. Olivia Nunn added six points and Mallory Sherrill had five points and four rebounds off the Lenoir-Rhyne bench.
Tusculum finished with a 41-37 rebounding advantage over Lenoir-Rhyne, with Arnwine, Dixon and Aliyah Miller each pulling four rebounds. The Pioneers turned the ball over just 10 times while forcing the Bears into 14 turnovers in the contest.
The Pioneers are scheduled to return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at Pioneer Arena against Carson-Newman, with tipoff slated for 5:30 p.m.
