ANDERSON, S.C. --- Samantha Michel came off the bench to score a season-high 26 points as Anderson University defeated Tusculum University 67-58 in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.
Despite the loss, the Pioneers (12-16, 10-14 SAC) have earned the eighth seed in the SAC Championship tournament and will travel to top-seeded Wingate on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Tusculum is the two-time defending tournament champion, and will face a Wingate squad that won the conference regular-season title at 21-3.
Jalia Arnwine led Tusculum with a season-high 25 points and Mya Belton recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. The Pioneers shot 30.2 percent (19-for-63) from the field and were outrebounded 48-35 by the Trojans, who led by as many as 19 points before Tusculum pulled within six in the final minutes.
Michel shot 11-for-17 from the field and 4-for-4 from the foul line to surpass her season high of 21 set in the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 26, and come up one short of her career high of 27 set on Jan. 23, 2021 at Limestone. Britney Bailey had a double-double for the Trojans with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, to go along with five assists.
Anderson (19-9, 19-5 SAC) shot 41.3 percent (26-for-63) from the field for the game but went just 3-for-18 from three-point range. Shameka McNeill, the leading scorer in Division II at 23.2 points per game, was held to a season-low six points on 2-for-12 shooting from the field and 2-for-10 from three-point range in 31 minutes of action.
Arnwine was 9-for-19 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, and went 5-for-5 from the foul line to beat her previous season best of 24 points set against Lenoir-Rhyne on Jan. 29. Her 25 points were one off her career high of 26 set against Tuskegee in the first round of last year's NCAA Tournament. Tusculum was 6-for-24 as a team from three-point range in the game.
Tusculum tied the game briefly at 4-4 on a layup by Arnwine with 8:29 left in the first quarter, but two baskets from Bailey gave Anderson an 8-4 lead with 6:51 left in the quarter. The teams would go scoreless for nearly 2 1/2 minutes before Tusculum got two free throws from Myajae Eubanks to cut the Trojan lead to 8-6 with 4:20 remaining. Anderson would respond with a 10-1 run to go up 18-7 on two free throw from Brittney Stafford with 52 seconds to play in the period. A jumper from Lexi Patty would snap the Pioneers' field goal drought at nearly eight minutes and pull the Pioneers within 18-9 after one.
McNeill scored all six of her points on two three-pointers in a span of 90 seconds at the start of the second quarter, helping the Trojans stretch their lead to 28-12 with 6:17 to go in the half. A three-pointer from Natalia Crooke would bring the Pioneers within 28-17 with 5:36 left in the period, but Tusculum would miss its next six shots before a putback by Belton in the final minute cut the Anderson lead to 36-19 at halftime.
Arnwine led the Pioneers with nine points on 4-for-7 shooting in the first half, as the Pioneers managed just 22.6 percent (7-for-31) from the field and 3-for-6 from the foul line in the half. Michel was 5-for-7 from the field for 10 points in the first half for the Trojans, who shot 46.9 percent (15-for-32) from the field and outrebounded the Pioneers 25-18 in the opening half.
Anderson went up 38-19 on a layup by Stafford on the first possession of the third quarter, but Tusculum answered with nine in a row, including seven straight by Arnwine, to cut the margin to 38-28 on a layup by Belton with 6:27 to play. Michel responded with seven straight for the Trojans to put Anderson back in front 45-30 with 4:31 remaining, but Tusculum rallied back to within nine as three-pointers from Sophie Henry and Belton cut the Trojans' lead to 49-40 after three.
Tusculum trailed 53-45 following a three-pointer by Belton with 7:39 remaining, and two free throws from Belton made it a 56-49 Anderson lead with 5:51 to go. The Pioneers would knock the deficit down to 60-54 on a three-pointer from Arnwine with 3:00 to go, but Taylor Hair hit a pair of layups in the final two minutes to offset a basket by Henry and two foul shots by Arnwine. Michel hit two free throws with 19 seconds left and Stafford added a foul shot with nine seconds to go to set the final score.
Henry matched her season high with five points and had a career-best eight rebounds for the Pioneers, along with two assists and two steals. Eubanks played 16 minutes and had five points and two rebounds, while Patty had four points off the bench for the Pioneers. Tusculum committed just eight turnovers which led to 13 points for Anderson.
Stafford had nine points and seven rebounds for the Trojans, with Hair adding eight points and seven boards off the bench. Xan Rowland had seven points in 26 minutes for the Trojans, who turned the ball over 12 times. Anderson had 15 offensive rebounds in the game, but scored just 10 second-chance points.
Tusculum and Wingate will meet for the third time this season in Wednesday's SAC quarterfinal matchup. The Bulldogs trailed by double digits at the half in both games, but rallied for a 64-59 win at home on Dec. 20 and a 66-62 victory at Pioneer Arena on Jan. 5. Wednesday's game will be the sixth in the SAC Tournament between the teams and the third quarterfinal meeting in the last four years, with Wingate leading 3-2.
