GAFFNEY, S.C. --- Brianna Dixon tied her career highs with 22 points and 13 rebounds to lift Tusculum University to a 56-49 victory at Limestone University in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Saturday at the Timken Center.
Alyssa Walker added 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench and Mya Belton had seven points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Pioneers (10-14, 8-12 SAC), who broke a 40-40 tie with a 12-1 fourth-quarter run to earn their season-high third straight win. With the victory, the Pioneers moved past Lincoln Memorial into eighth place in the SAC standings with four games left in the regular season.
Dixon shot 8-for-15 from the field, connecting on a career-best four three-pointers, to match her previous career high of 22 points set against Carson-Newman on Jan. 20, 2021. Dixon's 13 rebounds equaled her career best set against Queens on Jan. 19 and produced her second career double-double.
Walker was a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line and had six of her eight rebounds on the offensive glass as Tusculum came up with 18 offensive rebounds among their 45 total boards. The Pioneers shot 32.7 percent (18-for-55) from the field, but sank nine three-pointers and never trailed after taking the lead for good in the final minute of the first half.
Quin Byrd led the Saints (12-9, 9-9 SAC) with 16 points and Reagan McCray added 13 points, including the 1,000th of her career. Reagan Kargo contributed 11 points for Limestone, which shot 34.5 percent (20-for-58) from the field and just 4-for-7 from the foul line. The Saints forced the Pioneers into 20 turnovers, but were able to convert them into just 16 points.
Belton's 13 rebounds marked the 12th time this season that she reached double figures on the glass, while her five blocked shots equaled her career high set against Anderson on Jan. 26. Belton also had a pair of steals, giving her at least one steal in 22 of the Pioneers' 24 games. Walker reached double figures in scoring for the first time since Dec. 1 at Queens, and Jalia Arnwine scored in double figures for the ninth consecutive game with 11 points, despite playing just 19 minutes due to foul trouble.
Limestone went more than two minutes without a point to start the game as Tusculum went up 3-0 on a jumper by Belton and a foul shot by Arnwine. The Pioneers took a 6-4 lead on a three-pointer from Belton with 5:53 left in the first quarter, and the score remained there for nearly 3 1/2 minutes until Byrd tied the game on a jumper with 2:27 left. Byrd would score the final six points of the period for the Saints, including a bucket in the final seconds to give Limestone a 10-8 lead after one quarter.
The Saints went up 15-10 on a three-point play by McCray with 8:08 left in the first half, only to see the Pioneers claw back to a 17-17 deadlock on a jumper by Dixon with 3:31 remaining. Byrd scored five quick points to push the Saints back in front 22-17 with 2:56 to go, but Dixon scored Tusculum's final 10 points of the half, including a layup with 15 seconds to play as Tusculum carried a 25-24 lead to intermission.
Dixon led the Pioneers with 13 points and seven rebounds in the first half, while Belton had seven points and five boards. The Pioneers shot just 30 percent (9-for-30) from the field and 4-for-18 from three-point range in the opening half. Byrd paced the Saints with 13 points in the opening half as Limestone shot 37.9 percent (11-for-29) overall but just 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Arnwine to start the third quarter pushed the Pioneers to a 31-26 lead, and the margin grew to 35-26 on a layup by Dixon with 5:07 left in the third. Limestone missed six straight shots before a three-pointer from McCray and a jumper by Kargo cut the Tusculum lead back to 35-33 with 3:06 remaining. Byrd capped a 9-0 run with a layup with 2:01 left to tie the game at 35-35, but the Pioneers scored the final five points of the period on a layup by Walker, a free throw from Jordan Rogers and two foul shots by Walker in the final second for a 40-35 lead.
Limestone came right back to tie the game at 40-40 on a three from Kargo and a layup by Kalisha Hill, but Arnwine and Walker hit back-to-back threes to spark a 12-1 run for the Pioneers over a 4 1/2 minute span. A three-pointer from Dixon gave Tusculum its largest lead at 52-41 with 4:35 to play, before Kargo ended a drought of five straight missed shots with a layup on the next possession for Limestone. The Saints would cut the Pioneer lead to 55-49 on back-to-back threes from McCray and Shaniya Caldwell, the latter with 1:37 left, but Limestone would not score again.
Rogers had three points and three assists in 28 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers, while Sophie Henry played 34 minutes as the starting point guard and contributed four rebounds and four assists while turning the ball over just once. Tusculum's bench outscored the Limestone bench by a 16-3 margin, with the late three from Caldwell the only points from the Saints' reserves.
Tusculum will visit Lincoln Memorial for a showdown with the Railsplitters on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 5:30 p.m. Lincoln Memorial lost 67-59 at Newberry on Saturday, the seventh loss in the last eight games for the Railsplitters. LMU is 7-11 in the conference and is percentage points behind Tusculum for eighth place in the league standings, and will look for the season sweep after beating the Pioneers 55-47 at Pioneer Arena on Dec. 4.
