SALISBURY, N.C. --- Brianna Dixon scored nine of her team-high 19 points in the final six minutes to help seventh-ranked Tusculum University recover after losing an 11-point lead and defeat Catawba College 68-61 in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Monday evening at Goodman Gymnasium.
Marta Rodrigues added a season-high 14 points and five rebounds as four players scored in double figures for the Pioneers (10-1, 10-1 SAC), who closed the game with an 8-0 run over the final 2 1/2 minutes while holding Catawba without a field goal for the final 5:13.
Maddie Sutton finished with 10 points and a game-high 16 rebounds for her NCAA-leading ninth double-double of the season, and added a game-high six assists. Jalia Arnwine also reached double figures with 12 points while Mya Belton had eight points, tied her season high with seven rebounds and matched her career high with four blocked shots.
Shemya Stanback led the Indians (5-1, 5-1 SAC) with 21 points on 9-for-20 shooting, while Janiya Downs had 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds off the bench. The Indians shot just 32.9 percent (24-for-73) from the field and were just 5-for-18 in the fourth quarter, including 0-for-7 from three-point range in the final period.
Dixon shot 6-for-9 from the field, including a three-pointer from just inside midcourt at the end of the third quarter which gave the Pioneers momentum after an 11-point lead turned into a six-point deficit in a span of 6 1/2 minutes of the period. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Tusculum at Goodman Gym, giving the Pioneers their first victory on the road over Catawba since a 54-51 triumph on Dec. 5, 2015 and just their second win overall in the last nine meetings with the Indians.
As a team, the Pioneers shot 8-for-16 from three-point range and 21-for-45 overall (46.7 percent) from the field. Tusculum went 18-for-24 from the foul line in the game, drilling 11-for-16 in the decisive fourth quarter. Catawba attempted 28 more field goals than Tusculum in the game, thanks to 16 offensive rebounds and just four turnovers by the Indians.
The Pioneers jumped to a quick 5-0 lead on two free throws from Rodrigues and a three-pointer by Arnwine. Back-to-back threes from Belton and Rodrigues extended the Tusculum lead to 11-3 with 7:11 to go in the opening quarter. Another bucket by Belton pushed Tusculum to a 13-5 advantage with 5:26 to go in the period, and Rodrigues hit two more threes to push the Pioneers ahead 19-13 with 42 seconds left in the period, and Tusculum held a 19-15 lead after one quarter.
A basket by Dixon to start the second quarter was followed by a three-point play from Sutton which gave the Pioneers a 24-15 lead with 8:36 left in the first half. Catawba responded with nine straight points, with a putback from Mercedes Wampler tying the game at 24-24 with 5:42 remaining in the half. Tusculum came back with a 7-2 run that was capped by a Belton three for a 31-26 lead with 2:27 left in the half.
A three-pointer by Dixon just before the buzzer sent the Pioneers to halftime with a 36-28 lead. The Pioneers shot 44.4 percent (12-for-27) from the field and 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) from three-point range in the half, with Rodrigues hitting all three of her attempts en route to a team-high 11 points. Stanback led the Indians with 11 points on 5-for-12 shooting, but Catawba shot 29.3 percent (12-for-41) from the field as a team.
The Pioneers went up 41-30 on a three-point play by Deidre Cheremond with 7:21 left in the third quarter. Catawba responded with an 19-2 run, tying the game at 43-43 on a basket by Downs with 2:55 left in the period and going ahead 46-43 on a three-pointer by Stanback with 2:02 left. Talia Barnes capped the run with a basket in the paint with 53 seconds left in the period to give the Indians a 49-43 lead. Tusculum went scoreless for more than five minutes before pulling within 49-47 on a running three-pointer from 30 feet by Dixon as time expired.
Tusculum cut the Catawba lead to 53-52 on two free throws by Jordan Rogers with 7:56 left, and the Pioneers went ahead 54-53 on a backdoor layup by Arnwine off a Sutton feed with 7:25 to go. Back-to-back baskets from Stanback gave Catawba a 57-54 lead with 6:35 remaining, but another backdoor pass from Sutton to Arnwine knotted the game at 59-59 with 4:08 remaining. A free throw from Rodrigues put the Pioneers back ahead 60-59 with 2:38 left, but Downs hit a pair from the line with 2:11 left for a 61-60 Catawba advantage.
Dixon restored the Tusculum lead at 62-61 on a layup with 1:54 remaining, and Stanback came up empty on the other end with 1:22 to go. Dixon knocked down a pair at the foul line with 55.0 seconds to play for a 64-61 Pioneer lead, then swiped the ball from Sara McIntosh on an offensive rebound with 32.0 seconds left. Dixon added another free throw with 27.3 remaining to extend Tusculum's lead to 65-61, then hit another with 18.5 seconds to go. Rodrigues capped the scoring with two free throws with 6.4 left to set the final score.
Both teams finished the game with 39 rebounds, with Catawba outscoring Tusculum 17-5 on second-chance points as the Pioneers had just three offensive rebounds in the contest. Tusculum had 14 turnovers in the game, which led to 14 points by Catawba, while the Indians had a 32-24 edge in the paint and 23-5 off the bench. Rodrigues turned the ball over just once for the Pioneers while playing all 40 minutes, after committing just one turnover in 50 minutes against Carson-Newman in a double-overtime loss last Wednesday.
Sutton's nine double-doubles are the most in a season by a Pioneer since Stephany Neptune recorded 10 double-doubles during the 2008-09 season. Sutton, who grabbed a school-record 25 rebounds against Carson-Newman last Wednesday, has moved up to second in Division II with 15.6 boards per game, trailing only reigning Division II rebounding champion Lilly Ritz of Wheeling (16.6 rpg).
Tusculum entered the week ranked seventh in the D2SIDA Women's Basketball national poll, which is updated each Tuesday. The Pioneers did slip from second to fourth in the D2SIDA Southeast Region poll, which was unveiled Monday afternoon, while Catawba remained fifth in the region rankings from the previous week.
The Pioneers will travel to Lenoir-Rhyne to face the Bears on Saturday at 2 p.m. Tusculum defeated Lenoir-Rhyne 67-44 in their first meeting on Dec. 12, the seventh straight win for the Pioneers over the Bears.
