GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's basketball team heads into the final month of the 2020-21 season within sight of the program's first South Atlantic Conference regular-season championship in 10 years.

The Pioneers have successfully dodged COVID-19 outbreaks that have sidetracked so many of their conference opponents, but the ripple effect of the quarantines will affect this week's schedule. Tusculum was originally scheduled to play just one game this week, but instead of a home game with Newberry on Saturday the Pioneers will host Anderson on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at Pioneer Arena. Newberry is one of three teams currently sidelines due to COVID protocols, and a makeup date has not been set for that contest.

The Pioneers and Trojans agreed to move up their Feb. 27th game to Wednesday before the SAC announced at the end of last week that the opening round of the conference tournament will be played on that date. Tusculum will be looking for its first sweep of the season series with the Trojans in the 11 years that Anderson has been a SAC member, and the Pioneers seek their first-ever three-game winning streak over the Trojans.

Tusculum is coming off a pair of road wins last week, defeating Catawba 68-61 on Monday and Lenoir-Rhyne 61-54 on Saturday. In both games, the Pioneers let double-digit leads slip away before the defense came through in the fourth quarter to secure the victory. The Pioneers are 6-0 on the road this season and 18-5 in road conference games since Feb. 2, 2019.

At 11-1 in the conference, the Pioneers are among four teams with one loss in conference play, joining UVA Wise (9-1), Carson-Newman (8-1) and Catawba (5-1). All 13 teams will qualify for the revised SAC Championship tournament, with the top three seeds earning a bye into the quarterfinal round.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Senior center Maddie Sutton picked up her Division II-leading 10th double-double of the season with a season-high 18 points along with 13 rebounds at Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday. Sutton, who averages 13.1 points per game, leads the SAC and ranks second in Division II with 15.4 rebounds per game, trailing only Lilly Ritz of Wheeling (18.8 rpg). Sutton is third nationally and second in the SAC in defensive rebounds per game (10.8) and her 10 double-doubles are the most in a season for the Pioneers since Stephany Neptune had 13 during the 2008-09 season.

Senior guard Brianna Dixon reached double figures for the sixth time this season and the third game in a row with 12 points at Lenoir-Rhyne. Dixon, who averages 11.8 points per game, has shot 53.8 percent (21-for-39) from the field over the last four games and has hit four of her last five from three-point range. She is eighth in the SAC in field-goal percentage at 48.1 percent (50-for-104).

Senior guard Jalia Arnwine fell short of double figures for just the third time this season with nine points at Lenoir-Rhyne, though she went 4-for-4 on two-point shots. Arnwine has hit seven of her last eight two-pointers but has connected on just one of her last 13 three-pointers. Arnwine shares the team lead with Sutton at 13.1 points per game.

Junior guard Marta Rodrigues is second in the conference and seventh in Division II with 6.3 assists per game. She leads the SAC and is 17th nationally with a 2.62 assist-to-turnover ratio, and she leads the conference in minutes per game at 38.84 per contest.

Tusculum continues to lead the SAC in scoring defense (54.6 ppg, 10th in DII), field-goal percentage defense (32.3 percent, 9th in DII) and three-point defense (24.7 percent, 15th in DII). The Pioneers are second in the conference in three-pointers made (8.8) and attempted (25.3) per game, and third in percentage at 35.0 percent.

SCOUTING THE TROJANS
After winning two of three games while limited to just five players due to COVID quarantines, the Trojans were back at full strength Monday night for a 75-67 loss at home to Carson-Newma, which dropped Anderson to 9-6 overall and 8-5 in the SAC.

Anderson has been boosted by the play of 6-1 senior center Samantha Michel. The transfer from Northeastern saw limited action through December, but blossomed in January with 15.7 points per game on 51.7 percent shooting to go along with 10.0 rebounds and 3.4 blocked shots per contest. Michel is averaging 23.3 points, 13.5 rebounds and 4.8 blocks over the last four games, and is the reigning SAC Player of the Week.

Michel is second on the team in scoring at 10.5 points per game, with senior forward Taylor Hair leading at 10.9 points per game. Junior forward Britney Bailey averages 9.5 points per game, with sophomore guard Jalyn Spurlin at 9.3 points per contest. Hair, Spurlin and sophomore guard McKenzie Gadson (8.2 ppg) all returned to action against Carson-Newman after sitting out three games.

Anderson has not relied on long-range shooting, ranking next to last in the conference in three-pointers made (4.3) and attempted (16.0) per game as well as percentage (26.7 percent). The Trojans lead the SAC in rebounding (45.4 rpg) and blocked shots (6.8 per game), and are second to Tusculum in both field-goal defense (37.0 percent) and three-point defense (28.7 percent).

THE SERIES
Anderson leads the all-time series 20-9, although the Pioneers have won back-to-back meetings including last year's SAC Championship game. Tusculum has never beaten Anderson three in a row, and has never swept the season series from the Trojans. Anderson is 7-6 all-time in Greeneville, and leads the SAC regular-season series by a 16-5 margin.

FOLLOW THE GAMES
Justin Jeffers will describe all the action of Tusculum women's 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.