JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. --- Jalia Arnwine scored a career-high 26 points and Maddie Sutton posted her 16th straight double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds as Tusculum University defeated Tuskegee University 77-64 in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament Friday night at Holt Fieldhouse.
The fourth-seeded Pioneers (19-3) earned their first tournament win since 2010 and will advance to play top-seeded Belmont Abbey in the region semifinals on Saturday at 8:45 p.m.
India Blakely led the Golden Tigers (12-2) with 26 points and seven assists, but Tuskegee gave up an 11-0 run to Tusculum late in the first half and a 12-0 spurt to the Pioneers early in the second half. Tusculum outscored Tuskegee 23-4 from the midway point of the second quarter to the midway point of the third quarter.
Arnwine shot 10-for-16 from the field and 5-for-7 from three-point range to surpass her previous career high of 25 set at Mars Hill on Jan. 13. Arnwine scored 22 points in the first half, including 15 in the second quarter on 6-for-7 shooting.
Sutton's double-double was her NCAA-leading 20th of the season and her 16th in a row, and included 11-for-15 shooting from the foul line. Tusculum went 17-for-26 from the foul line in the game and 15-for-20 in the second half as Tuskegee would get no closer than eight points in the game's final seven minutes.
As a team, Tusculum shot 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) from three-point range and 47.2 percent (25-for-53) overall against the Tigers, who entered the game ranked fourth nationally in field goal defense at 32.2 percent. Tuskegee shot 37.3 percent (25-for-67) from the floor and 4-for-20 from beyond the arc.
Mya Belton added 13 points and six rebounds for the Pioneers, Marta Rodrigues added 10 points and five assists and Brianna Dixon tallied nine points, six rebounds and four assists as Tusculum shot 6-for-10 from the field and 9-for-12 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.
Ashiala Jackson, who entered the game averaging 17.7 points for the Golden Tigers, was hampered by foul trouble in the second half and departed in the final minute after scoring 13 points and six rebounds in 25 minutes. JuToreyia Willis shot just 2-for-14 from the field and had five points in 40 minutes along with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Tusculum raced to a 7-0 lead after 2 1/2 minutes on a three-pointer by Rodrigues and baskets from Arnwine and Dixon. The Pioneers led 10-2 following an Arnwine three-pointer with 6:12 left in the first period, but scored just one basket in the next four minutes as the Tigers tied the game at 13-13 on a Jackson jumper with 2:31 left in the quarter. A putback by Sutton in the final minute sent the Pioneers to the second quarter with an 18-15 lead.
Tuskegee took its first lead of the game at 23-22 on a Willis three-pointer with 8:30 left in the first half, part of a 7-0 Tigers run that gave Tuskegee its largest lead at 27-22 following two free throws from Brittney Bolin with 6:28 left in the half. However, the Pioneers ran off 11 straight points as Arnwine hit two threes and Belton added one during the run, which gave Tusculum a 33-27 lead with 2:56 to go in the half. Arnwine would score Tusculum's final five points of the half as the Pioneers took a 38-31 lead to intermission.
Arnwine was the only player for either team in double figures in the first half with 22 points on 9-for-12 from the field and 4-for-5 from three-point range. Sutton had five points and four rebounds as Tusculum shot 48.4 percent (15-for-31) from the field but just 2-for-6 at the foul line. Blakely led the Tigers with eight points and five assists, but Tuskegee hit just 38.7 percent (12-for-31) from the floor and 2-for-11 from long range in the half.
Tusculum, which ran off the last five points of the first half, scored the first seven points of the second half on a three-pointer from Arnwine, two foul shots from Sutton and a basket by Belton to take its largest lead at 45-31 with 6:47 left in the third quarter. Jackson then heated up for the Tigers, hitting three straight jumpers to pull Tuskegee within 49-42 with 1:23 left in the third quarter. However, a three-pointer from Belton and two free throws by Sutton helped Tusculum to a 54-45 lead entering the fourth.
The Tigers would cut the deficit to five at 54-49 on two free throws by Blakely with 9:11 remaining, but a layup from Dixon and a three-pointer from Belton restored Tusculum's double-digit lead at 59-49 with 8:06 to go. A scoring drought of nearly four minutes in the fourth quarter from the Pioneers enabled the Tigers to pull within eight at 67-59 with 2:30 to play, but Tusculum went 8-for-10 from the foul line in the final 1:23 to earn their first NCAA win since beating Lander in the 2010 Southeast Region final.
Tusculum finished the game with a slim 38-37 edge in rebounding over Tuskegee, which was led on the boards by Lena Yoonis with eight rebounds to go along with eight points. Tusculum turned the ball over 16 times which led to 13 points by Tuskegee, while the Tigers had 14 turnovers which the Pioneers converted into 12 points.
Belmont Abbey (22-2), the champions of Conference Carolinas and the top seed in the regional, was scheduled to be Tusculum's opponent in the first round of the 2020 NCAA Tournament before it was canceled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pioneers have beaten the Crusaders each of the last three seasons, the only three meetings between the schools all-time.
In the other Southeast Region semifinal, sixth-seeded Catawba (11-3) will face second-seeded Barton (12-2) after the Indians upset third-seeded tournament host Carson-Newman 67-48 in Friday's other semifinals. The Indians and Bulldogs will play at 6 p.m. Saturday ahead of the Pioneers' meeting with Belmont Abbey, with the winners facing each other for the region championship on Monday.
