GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Off to a 4-0 start for the fourth year in a row, the Tusculum University women's basketball team will look continue their strong start when the Pioneers visit Limestone University on Wednesday and host Lenoir-Rhyne University on Saturday.
The Pioneers are seeking their first 5-0 start since the 2011-12 season, and are 4-0 in conference play for the first time since 2008-09. A win over Limestone on Wednesday would give the Pioneers their first 5-0 start in league play since the 2007-08 season. Saturday's game with Lenoir-Rhyne will be Tusculum's first home game since Nov. 24, and their last scheduled game until the Pioneers host Carson-Newman on Jan. 6.
In their only action last week, the Pioneers traveled to Newberry College and beat the host Wolves 72-50 behind a career-high 21 points from Brianna Dixon and the fourth straight double-double from Maddie Sutton with 17 points and 15 rebounds.
RECAPPING THE WEEK
Tusculum led wire-to-wire at Newberry and held a double-digit lead for the final three quarters in winning their third straight at Eleazer Arena for the first time since winning four in a row from 2000-01 through 2003-04. Dixon shot 7-for-10 from the field and 6-for-8 from the foul line to easily surpass her previous career high of 13 points set against Georgia College on Nov. 15, 2019. Sutton became the first Pioneer since Stephany Neptune in 2008-09 with four straight double-doubles, while Marta Rodrigues added 10 points to reach double figures for the third game in a row. Tusculum's bench was boosted by six points from Mya Belton and five from Kirsten Click.
With the win at Newberry, first-year head coach Meagan Price joined Missy Tiber (2005-06) as the only Pioneer coaches to open their careers with four straight victories.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Sutton enters the week as the only player in Division II with four double-doubles this season. The last Pioneer to record five double-doubles in a row was Whitley Campbell during the 2000-01 season. The senior from Walland, Tennessee is third in Division II in rebounding with a SAC-best 13.2 per game, and leads the nation in offensive rebounds per game with 5.5 per contest. Sutton leads the Pioneers in scoring average at 14.8 points per game, good for sixth in the SAC, and begins the week one point shy of reaching 500 for her career, and 10 rebounds short of 500 boards for her Pioneer career.
Dixon has climbed up to fourth on the team in scoring at 10.5 points per game, and ranks 10th in the conference in field goal percentage at 53.6 percent (15-for-28). The Decatur, Georgia senior is second on the team in rebounding at 6.0 per game, and shares the team lead in both steals (seven) and blocked shots (three).
Junior guard Marta Rodrigues ranks second in the conference and eighth in Division II in assists per game at 6.5 per contest. Her total of 26 assists through four games is tops in Division II, and she is 12th nationally in assist to turnover ratio at 3.71. Against Newberry, Rodrigues played all but the final 46 seconds and committed her only turnover of the game with just over two minutes left. The native of Lisbon, Portugal has reached double figures three straight games to increase her season scoring average to 8.0 points per game, and is 8-for-17 from three-point range over that span (47.1 percent). Her eight three-pointers are most on the team and are halfway to her total of 17 three-pointers over her first two seasons with the Pioneers.
Senior guard Aliyah Miller played just 13 minutes against Newberry and finished with three points, coming on a three-pointer in the third quarter. The Clarksville, Tennessee native continues to sport a 13.5 points per game scoring average on the strength of her 23 points against Wingate in the season opener on Nov. 21 and 22 points against UVA Wise on Nov. 24. Miller is tied for 11th in the SAC in scoring average and is among three players in the conference who are a perfect 8-for-8 at the foul line.
Senior guard Jalia Arnwine saw a pair of streaks come to an end at the hands of foul trouble in Saturday's win at Newberry. The Knoxville, Tennessee product finished with eight points, failing to reach double figures for the first time this season, and saw her run of 23 consecutive games with a three-pointer snapped as she went 0-for-3 from beyond the arc. Arnwine is third on the team with 12.8 points per game
Off the bench, junior guard Mya Belton finished with a season-high six points and sophomore guard Kirsten Click added five points at Newberry. Belton went 2-for-3 from three-point range and is at 42.9 percent (3-for-7) from beyond the arc this season, while Click played a season-high 27 minutes against Newberry and helped hold the Wolves' leading scorer to three points.
Tusculum does not lead the SAC in any statistical category, but does rank second in the league in scoring defense (55.8 ppg), rebound margin (+5.5 per game), three-point percentage (38.3 percent) and three-point defense (26.9 percent). The Pioneers are ninth in Division II in both three-point percentage offense and defense, and Tusculum is seventh nationally in scoring defense after holding three of its first four opponents to between 50 and 53 points.
SCOUTING LIMESTONE
The Saints, in their first season as a full-time member of the South Atlantic Conference, got off to an 0-2 start in the league with losses to Newberry (65-52) and Anderson (67-61). Limestone earned its first league win with a last-second 63-61 victory over Coker on Saturday, then throttled Lenoir-Rhyne 75-40 on Monday afternoon to level their record at 2-2. Limestone went 23-8 last season and won the Conference Carolinas tournament championship in its final season in the league.
Freshman guard Reagan Kargo is off to a strong start with the Saints, averaging 14.3 points per game to rank 10th in the SAC and scoring in double figures in all four contests. Junior guard Reagan McCray, the lone starter from last year's team in this year's current lineup, is averaging 11.8 points per game, including an 18-point performance against Coker that she capped with the game-winning free throws in the final second. Freshman center Aaliyah Foxx-Rome leads the Saints in rebounding at 7.3 per contest and is averaging 8.3 points per game.
As a team, the Saints are averaging 62.8 points per game while holding opponents to 58.2 points per contest. Limestone entered the week ranked eighth in Division II in three-point defense, improving to 23.9 percent after holding Lenoir-Rhyne to 4-for-23 from beyond the arc on Monday.
Wednesday's game is the second all-time meeting between the Pioneers and Saints, with Limestone winning the first matchup 93-75 on January 14, 1984 at the Timken Center. The Saints finished 12-11 that season while the Pioneers ended the year with a 6-20 record.
SCOUTING LENOIR-RHYNE
The Bears came out of the gate strong in their season opener at Anderson on Saturday, leading 26-11 at the end of the first quarter. From there, it was all Trojans as Anderson pulled away in the fourth for a 70-64 victory over the Bears. Lenoir-Rhyne then dropped a 75-40 decision at Limestone on Monday as the Bears shot 23.7 percent (14-for-59) from the field and had just 20 points through three quarters.
Like Limestone, Lenoir-Rhyne is led by a freshman guard as Emily Harman paces the Bears with 13.5 points per game. Harman started her career in style with a team-high 20 points against Anderson, but was held to just seven points on 3-for-10 shooting against Limestone. Junior guard Tatum McBride is averaging 9.5 points per game and junior guard Hanna McClung is at 7.5 points per game. Senior center Olivia Nunn is averaging 7.0 points per game and leads the team at 6.5 rebounds per contest.
The Bears are last in the conference in scoring offense (52.0 ppg) and field goal percentage (32.5 percent) and are next to last in both field goal defense (41.7 percent) and three-point defense (40.5 percent). The Bears turned the ball over 19 times against Anderson in their season opener and committed 17 miscues in the loss to Limestone. The Bears went 11-for-21 from three-point range against Anderson, but hit just 4-for-23 at Limestone.
Tusculum has won six straight against Lenoir-Rhyne, the Pioneers' longest winning streak over the Bears since seven straight from 2009-10 through 2012-13. The Pioneers are 15-8 all-time at home against the Bears, with three straight victories and 13 of the last 15 meetings at Pioneer Arena.
FOLLOW THE GAMES
The "Voice of the Pioneers" Brian Stayton describes all the action of Tusculum basketball on the Pioneer Sports Network, with pregame coverage starting 15 minutes before tip. Fans can listen locally on WSMG Radio at 95.5 FM and 1450 AM, and on-line at jewel955.com. Live video and live stats links for all games are available at www.TusculumPioneers.com.
