GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Fresh off a season-opening victory over Wingate University, the Tusculum University women's basketball team will bookend the Thanksgiving holiday with games against UVA Wise on Tuesday and Lincoln Memorial on Saturday.

The Pioneers (1-0, 1-0 SAC) defeated Wingate 63-52 on Saturday behind a game-high 23 points from Aliyah Miller and a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds from Maddie Sutton. Tusculum went 8-for-16 from three-point range and held Wingate to 32.2 percent shooting from the field to give new head coach Meagan Price the victory in her Pioneer coaching debut.

Miller was honored as SAC Player of the Week after she shot 10-for-18 from the field and 3-for-5 from three-point range, finishing just two points shy of her career high of 25 points set at Mars Hill on Jan. 8 of last season. Jalia Arnwine also hit three three-pointers and finished with 14 points to join Miller and Sutton in double figures.

Arnwine's first three-pointer of the game, which came early in the third quarter, was the 100th of her career as she became the 11th player in program history to connect on 100 career three-pointers. The senior guard shot 5-for-11 overall from the field and had five rebounds for the Pioneers.

Marta Rodrigues turned in a strong performance at point guard as the successor to three-year starter and All-Conference honoree Mia Long. In her second career start, Rodrigues dished out a career-high nine assists and matched her career best with eight rebounds in 36 minutes of action.

Sutton came back strong after missing on her first nine shots attempts, hitting six of her last nine tries en route to her 10th career double-double. Sutton also handed out three assists and came up with a pair of steals.

Tusculum's bench combined to play just 32 minutes against Wingate, as all four starters played at least 27 minutes with four of the five starters on the court for at least 32 minutes. Sophomore Jordan Rogers had the only field goal off the bench for the Pioneers, hitting a second-quarter three-pointer.

The Pioneers' win over Wingate marked the fourth straight year that Tusculum has won its season opener, and the second year in a row that Tusculum was victorious in its first conference game of the season. Prior to Saturday, Tusculum had never opened its season with a conference contest.

SCOUTING UVA WISE
UVA Wise is playing its season opener Tuesday after having a scheduled off date on Saturday. The Cavaliers went 12-16 overall last season and 8-14 in their first season in the SAC. Among their eight conference wins last season were home victories over Newberry, Catawba and Wingate. Losses in six of their final eight games denied the Cavaliers a berth in the SAC Championship tournament.

Sophomore guard Caitlyn Ross was a second-team All-SAC selection and member of the SAC All-Freshman team last year, after becoming the only player in the country with at least 375 points, 160 assists, 140 rebounds and 60 steals. Ross averaged 16.3 points per game and led the SAC with 5.8 assists per game.

Ross was a preseason first-team All-SAC pick, while sophomore guard Nia Vanzant was a preseason second-team All-SAC choice after averaging 14.8 points per game last season. Vanzant, also a member of the SAC All-Freshman team, averaged 19.5 points per game over the Cavs' final nine games, and reached double figures 19 times in all.

UVA Wise returns four starters from last year team, including senior forward Kalee Johnson (12.3 ppg) and senior guard Hanna Oliver, who led the Cavaliers with 54 three-pointers and averaged 7.8 points per game. Senior post player Ada Stanley also returns after playing in 20 games last year with nine starts and averaging 8.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

Tusculum swept the season series from UVA Wise last season, winning 89-85 at home on Dec. 18 and 69-63 on the road on Feb. 5. The Pioneers have a 20-7 advantage in the all-time series with the Cavaliers, including a 12-1 home record. A win Tuesday would give the Pioneers their first three-game winning streak over the Cavs since a run of five victories in a row that began on Feb. 21, 1995 and went through Nov. 23, 1998.

Tuesday's game with UVA Wise will tip off at 5:30 p.m. from Pioneer Arena. Admission is limited to family members of both teams, faculty and staff at Tusculum, and members of the Pioneer Club. Attendance for the general public will not be allowed.

SCOUTING LINCOLN MEMORIAL
Lincoln Memorial opened its season on Saturday with a 66-56 victory over Newberry at Tex Turner Arena. Jordan Maney led the Railsplitters with 13 points and five assists, with Lexi Kiser adding 12 points and Lauren Flowers 10 points and five rebounds. LMU trailed 32-31 at halftime but outscored Newberry 35-24 in the second half to give coach Devan Carter a win in his debut. Carter went to LMU in April after five seasons at Tusculum, a tenure which ended with the Pioneers' first SAC Tournament championship since 2011.

LMU finished 10-17 overall and 9-13 in the SAC a year ago. Flowers was the only player to average double figures for the Railsplitters at 11.3 points per game. Lincoln Memorial ranked eighth in the conference in points per game (60.8) and was near the bottom of the league in both rebounds (36.7 rpg) and blocked shots (2.4 per game).

Lincoln Memorial leads the all-time series with Tusculum by a 44-32 margin, with a lead of 26-11 at home. Since LMU joined the SAC for the 2006-07 season, Tusculum has a 19-11 edge over the Railsplitters including three straight wins. The Pioneers are looking for their first four-game winning streak over the Railsplitters since winning eight straight from 2006-07 through 2008-09.

Saturday's game against Lincoln Memorial will tip off at 2 p.m. from Tex Turner Arena. Attendance is limited to 10 percent of capacity, and is restricted to pass list designees, booster club members, students and game-day personnel.

FOLLOW THE GAMES
Brian Stayton describes all the action of Tusculum women's basketball on the Pioneer Sports Network. Fans can listen to the games 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 5:15 p.m. Tuesday prior to the UVA Wise game, and at 1:45 p.m. Saturday before the matchup at Lincoln Memorial. Live video and live stats links are also available at www.TusculumPioneers.com.