GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University's Mya Belton recorded a game-high 22 points while hauling in 13 rebounds as the Pioneers extended its winning streak to 10 in a row with Saturday's 65-59 victory over Southern Wesleyan University at Pioneer Arena.
The Pioneers move to 12-1 and are off to the program's best start since the 2007-08 squad opened 12-1 and would eventually capture Tusculum's first South Atlantic Conference championship.
The 10-game winning streak is the first by a TU squad in over a decade, but the six-point win is the narrowest margin of victory by the Pioneers this year, who entered today's contest second in the nation in scoring margin (+27.8).
Jami Tham and Blayre Shultz each established personal milestones on Saturday. Tham posted her 13th double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds. In the second half, she recorded the 1,000th rebound of her collegiate career, becoming the second active NCAA Division II player and ninth active NCAA player (all divisions) with 1,000 boards.
Shultz scored 14 points, giving her 1,000th for her collegiate career which includes 632 points at Walters State, 190 at Coastal Carolina and 178 in her 13 games at Tusculum.
TU's Alyssa Walker contributed a dozen points and six rebounds, while Sophie Henry dished out a career-high 12 assists in the victory.
SWU's Brittany Mack tallied a team-high 17 points, while Brooke Henricks and Allie Newberry posted 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The Warriors (2-10) were a formidable opponent as SWU jumped out to a 12-7 lead at the 5:33 mark of the opening quarter thanks to three-pointers by Henricks and Newberry. Tusculum answered with an 8-0 run which was capped off by a Tham layup to go up 15-12. But the Warriors closed out the period with seven straight including a Mack jumper in the final seconds as SWU led 19-15 after the end of the quarter.
In the second period, the Warriors extended their lead to six on three occasions including 26-20 with 7:13 left before halftime. But TU responded again with seven unanswered which was aided by a Belton triple and two baskets by Walker to regain the lead at 27-26 with 3:38 to go in the period. Two free throws by Henricks and a Shelby Glance bucket gave SWU a 30-27 advantage before baskets by Belton and Tham put the Pioneers in the lead again at 31-30 with 1:12 remaining in the quarter. Mack connected on layup on the next possession which would give the Warriors a 32-31 lead at the intermission.
The Pioneers came out of the locker room on fire scoring the first 10 points of the third period while Southern Wesleyan missed its first five shots and went scoreless in the opening 4:25 of the half. Mack scored five straight points including a trey from the wing to trim the deficit to 41-37 at the 4:26 mark of the frame. TU would go on a 7-0 spurt which included buckets by Walker and Deidre Cheremond and capped off by a Belton three-point play as the Pioneers took its first double-digit lead of the game at 48-37 with 2:21 remaining in the quarter. Later in the period Tristen Berry would drain deep three-pointer to cut the TU lead to 51-44 heading to the final frame.
SWU opened the fourth quarter with a 9-1 run while Tusculum missed its first seven shots as the Warriors overcame the 11-point deficit and take a 53-52 lead with 6:57 to go. After a Tusculum timeout, the Pioneers went on a game-deciding 12-0 run over a span of 3:21 to move back to an 11-point advantage (64-53). During the TU run, the Pioneers connected on five consecutive field goals including three-pointers by Belton and Shultz.
SWU made one final push with a 6-0 run over the next three minutes to get to within 64-59 with 22.1 seconds remaining, but that would be as close as the Warriors would get.
TU out-rebounded the Warriors by a 45-27 margin to extend its NCAA Division II-leading rebound margin to +15.8.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 42.4 percent as the Pioneers recorded 21 assists on 25 made field goals. TU went 9-of-13 from the free throw line while SWU was a perfect 6-of-6 at the charity stripe. Southern Wesleyan shot 39 percent from the field including 7-of-23 from three-point territory (30.4%).
Tusculum committed 15 turnovers resulting into 17 points for the Warriors.
Belton, who recorded her fourth double-double of the season and 14th of her career, also posted two blocked shots, both coming in the final minutes of the game. Her blocked shot tally of 114 is the fourth-best in TU history. She also finished with three 3-pointers in the game, giving her 156 for her career which moves her to three of moving into the program's top-five list.
Tham records her 13th straight double-double, which is the second longest streak in TU history and moves to within three games of the record 16 posted by All-American Maddie Sutton during the 2020-21 campaign. Tham's 13 double-doubles this year ties TU Hall of Famer Lydia Taylor's total during the 1997-98 year for ninth in the Tusculum record book.
Tham's 46 career double-doubles (including 32 in her Barton College career) are the most by an active NCAA II player.
The Pioneers will return to action in two weeks when they host in-state foe Milligan University for a non-conference contest on New Year's Eve at 2 p.m. from Pioneer Arena.
