Donaldson, Cupidan named Applebee's Student-Athletes of the Month for February

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University basketball players Donovan Donaldson and Yolizma Cupidan have been named the Applebee's Student-Athletes of the Month for February.

Donaldson averaged 17.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game to lead the Tusculum men's basketball team to a 6-1 record in February including five in a row to close out the month and climb into a tie for fifth place in the South Atlantic Conference standings.  For the month, he also averaged 3.4 assists per contest and shot 74.1 percent from the free throw line.

He opened the month by matching a career-high with his 32-point performance in Tusculum's double-overtime win at Newberry on Feb. 2.  He followed with 23 points at No. 11 Queens (Feb. 9) and tallied 21 points in a road win at Mars Hill (Feb. 13).  In all three games, Donaldson made five 3-pointers in each contest.

He tallied 12 points in a home win over Lenoir-Rhyne (Feb. 16) and followed that with 10 points in a 79-65 victory at Carson-Newman (Feb. 20).  But one of his biggest games came on Feb. 27 when he posted a game-high 27 points and five assists in Tusculum's 78-76 home victory over Lincoln Memorial and snapping a 24-game losing streak to the Railsplitters.

Tusculum is averaging 15.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game this season.

Cupidan averaged 14.8 points per game and shot 54.3 percent from the field as Tusculum outscored the opposition in seven of its eight games during the month. The Ocoee, Florida native reached double figures in all eight contests, including a career-high 21 points which she set against Hiwassee on Feb. 6 and equaled against Carson-Newman on Feb. 20. Cupidan played all 40 minutes in four of the Pioneers' eight games, and was on the court for 278 of a possible 320 minutes in February.

Cupidan shot 50 percent or better from the field in six of eight games during the month, including 7-for-12 for 15 points at Mars Hill on Feb. 13 and 6-for-10 for 13 points at Queens on Feb. 9. Cupidan also had nine rebounds on three different occasions, with seven offensive boards against both Hiwassee and Mars Hill. Cupidan shot 11-for-20 from three-point range and also averaged 2.1 steals per game, with at least one steal in all eight contests.

For the season, Cupidan is averaging 11.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game for the Pioneers. She ranks fourth in the South Atlantic Conference at 50.9 percent shooting from the field and ended February with a streak of 12 straight games in double figures.

The Tusculum Student-Athlete of the Month Award is sponsored by Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar of Greeneville.  The Applebee's Student-Athlete of the Month Award honors one male and one female student-athlete each month from an in-season sport during the 2018-2019 academic year, recognizing their hard work, effort and performance.

2018-2019 Applebee's Student-Athletes of the Month