Tusculum Advances To NCAA Southeast Region Women’s Basketball Championship

GREENWOOD, S.C. -- Jasmine Gunn poured in a South Atlantic Conference-record 45 points, and set a pair of NCAA Division II marks to lead the Tusculum College women's basketball team to a 103-96 win over No. 20 Francis Marion University in the semifinal round of the Southeast Region Tournament on Saturday evening in Finis Horne Arena. The win propels the Pioneers into Monday's Southeast Region Championship for the first time in school history, and is Tusculum's third victory over a ranked opponent in the last week.

Tusculum (22-9) edged the Patriots (27-5) 43-42 on the boards, including a 29-17 margin on the defensive glass. The Pioneers also blocked a season-high eight shots, including a game-high five rejections by Catherine Hintz, which ties a career-best.

Gunn led all scorers with 45 points in 31 minutes, connecting on 11-of-15 attempts from the floor and converting a school-, conference-, and NCAA Division II Tournament-record 23 chances at the free throw line, while setting an NCAA Division II single-game mark with 29 free throw attempts. The Daktronics Southeast Region Player of the Year finished the night two markers shy of the program-record of 47 points, while becoming the first player in 10 years to breach the 40-point barrier for the Pioneers.

Tusculum's Kat Spears pulled down 10 rebounds in Saturday's NCAA Tournament win over Francis Marion. (Photo by Mike Slade)

Hintz and Jasmine Parker joined Gunn with at least 20 points, marking the first time three Pioneers have scored 20 or more markers in the same game since last season. Hintz recorded a double-double with 21 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while Parker poured in a season-best 20 markers.

Senior Kat Spears also pulled down 10 rebounds to move into sixth place on the program's all-time list with 598 career boards. Freshman Kendal Baxter also scored in double figures for Tusculum, connecting on three shots from behind the arc to become the third player in program history to knock down at least 100 triples in a single season.

Nicole Mealing and Shannon Singleton-Bates each poured in 20 or more points for the Patriots, recording 29 and 21 markers, respectively. Eboni Fields and Precious Tucker joined Mealing and Singleton-Bates in double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively, as Robin Colbert led the Patriots with 11 rebounds to go with a game-high seven assists.

The game started off fairly even with neither team leading by more than four points until, with Francis Marion trailing 10-8, the Patriots launched a 9-0 run to take a 17-10 lead on a layup by Mealing with 13:41 to go in the half. Francis Marion would stretch the lead to 24-15 with 10:54 remaining in the half before the Pioneers launched a 16-5 run, reclaiming the advantage at 31-29 on a three-point play by Gunn with 7:07 to play in the period. The Pioneers would hold the lead for the remainder of the half, taking a 49-44 lead into the intermission.

Tusculum continued to press the advantage in the second half, opening a 66-56 lead with a 17-12 spurt over the first five minutes of the period. The Pioneers would hold a double-digit advantage for much of the next 10 minutes, opening its largest lead of the game at 89-74 on a layup by Hintz with 5:05 to play. Francis Marion would battle back, cutting the lead to 98-92 with an 18-9 run before the Pioneers closed out the 103-96 win with some clutch free throw shooting.

The Pioneers return to the court on Monday when they will take on top-seeded Lander University in the championship game of the NCAA Division II Southeast Region Tournament.

Lander 94, Carson-Newman 67

GREENWOOD - Top-seeded Lander showed off its depth with reserves Nardia Robbins, Brianna Webb and Kaylyn Small leading the Lady Bearcats into the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championship game with a 94-67 victory over fifth seed Carson-Newman Saturday night at Finis Horne Arena.

Lander (27-3) advanced to the national Sweet 16 for the first time in school history and will play seventh seed Tusculum College for the Southeast Regional championship Monday night at 7 p.m. at Horne Arena. Tusculum beat Francis Marion 103-96 in the other Southeast Regional semifinal Saturday night behind Jasmine Gunn's 45 points.

Monday night's winner advances to the national quarterfinals (Elite Eight) to be played in St. Joseph, Mo.

Carson-Newman ended its season at 24-7.

Non-starting sophomore guards Robbins and Webb sparked the Bearcats with 15 and 14 points, respectively, each making big baskets when the Bearcats needed them most.

Another sophomore guard Brittni Johnson also scored 14 points for Lander while junior post players Shannon McKever and Tasheba Butler added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Small came off the bench to score nine points, including a pair of old-fashioned three-point plays in the second half, while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.

Sophomore guard Jasmine Judge added three 3-pointers for nine points for the Bearcats, while sophomore guards Ciara Lyons and Mukia Myrick led the team with six assists apiece. Sophomore reserve post Keondra Barnes was big for Lander in the first half, making four of five shots for eight points.

Carson-Newman was plagued by poor shooting, hitting only 31 percent of its shots (23 of 75). Senior forward Shari Buford, senior guard Ashley Kyle, and junior guard Mandy Mendenhall led the Eagles with 13 points apiece while junior guard Katlin Moore added 10 points.

Buford led Carson-Newman with 10 rebounds while sophomore forward Zoriah Williams pulled down eight boards. Kyle led the Eagles with five assists.

Lander was in need of a spark after Carson-Newman had cut a 20-point second-half deficit down to 11, 65-54, with a little more than eight minutes left in the game. Webb ignited the Bearcats by driving to the goal as the shot clock was about to expire, laying in a basket and converting the three-point play to end a long scoring drought.

In the next few seconds, Robbins drove in for a fast-break layup off a long pass from Johnson, Johnson scored another fast-break basket off a steal by Robbins, and Small converted a three-point play off a Robbins assist to complete a 10-0 run and extend what had been a shrinking lead into a much more comfortable 75-54 advantage with seven minutes to go.

After Carson-Newman ended the run with a basket, Robbins went high off the glass for a layup to extend the lead back to 21, 77-56, at the six-minute mark, and Johnson added a spectacular shot to continue the momentum. Judge hit a 3-pointer with four minutes to go, increasing Lander's lead to 84-62.

Small converted another three-point play to give the Bearcats their largest lead of the game at 25, 87-62, with 3:42 left, while Judge hit another trey to push the score to 90-64 at the three-minute mark.

Robbins had another steal and driving layup to increase Lander's lead to 30, 94-64, with two minutes left for the team's final points.

Both teams started off well as McKever scored twice inside, and Johnson nailed a baseline jumper and a 3-pointer to stake Lander to an early 9-4 lead. But Carson-Newman twice pulled within a possession at 9-6 and 11-8. Meanwhile, the Bearcats could not build on their lead because they missed eight of their first nine shots from 3-point range. Finally, Robbins hit a trey and Barnes added her second inside basket of the night to give Lander a 16-10 lead at the 12-minute mark.

Johnson hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Bearcats a 21-13 advantage with 10 minutes left. Kyle hit two free throws to pull the Eagles within 23-18 with 8:05 to go. Lander responded with five unanswered points when Butler hit two free throws and Webb nailed the first of her three 3-pointers for the team's first double-digit, 28-18, with 7:20 left.

After Buford scored inside for Carson-Newman, the Bearcats went on a 10-0 run on McKever's tip-in, a Robbins layup off a long pass from McKever, and a pair of Webb 3-pointers to extend their lead to 18, 38-20, at the five-minute mark.

The Eagles ended the run with a 6-0 run of their own when Mendenhall hit a mid-range jumper, Dominique Jackson made a free throw, then added a three-point play to pull Carson-Newman within 38-26 with 3:52 to go. The Eagles had three more possessions to cut into the lead but failed to convert.

Barnes ended Lander's three-minute scoring drought with another basket in the paint, but Carson-Newman's Moore answered with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to close the gap to 40-29. Robbins hit two free throws with 44 seconds left to extend the lead, and after the Eagles missed a layup, Barnes scored her fourth basket in as many attempts to make it 44-29 going into halftime.

Kyle scored twice as the Eagles tried to keep pace early in the second half, including a jumper to pull them within 49-36 with 17:45 left. But Lander began putting the game away with a big run. Butler started the 7-0 run with a layup off an inside pass from Lyons, Johnson drove the length of the floor for a layup, and Judge hit a long 3-pointer from beyond the top of the key to give the Bearcats their first 20-point lead of the game, 56-36, with 16:34 to go.

Lander increased its lead to 22, 60-38, at the 15-minute mark when Small scrapped for an offensive rebound after missing two shots, was fouled, and hit two free throws. After Mendenhall's 3-pointer pulled the Eagles within 19, Small was fouled after another offensive put-back attempt and hit one of two free throws for a 63-43 advantage with 13 minutes remaining.

Mendenhall scored and Kyle made two free throws to pull Carson-Newman within 63-47 with 12:29 to go. After McKever scored to increase Lander's lead back to 18, the Bearcats went into a rut and the Eagles took advantage. Mendenhall hit a jump shot, Buford converted a put-back into a three-point play, and Mendenhall made two free throws as Carson Newman completed an 11-2 run to pull within 65-54 with 8:39 to go.

For the game, Lander made 35 of 74 shots from the floor (47 percent), 15 of 17 free throws (88 percent), and nine of 28 from behind the 3-point line (32 percent). The Eagles made 23 of 75 shots, 18 of 25 free throws (70 percent), and three of 18 from behind the arc (17 percent).

Lander Head Coach Kevin Pederson

"I'm really proud of our effort. Carson-Newman is an outstanding team. I really didn't expect us to win 94-67. We expected a dogfight. I expected Carson Newman to present some tough matchups but I thought our depth would eventually wear them down. We're excited to play in the Sweet 16."

"We have great team chemistry. Everyone on our team can do something good. No player on our team tries to do something they can't. Everyone knows their role on the team and that's why I think we have been successful this year."

Lander Guard Brianna Webb
"Our offense develops from our defense. When we play tough defense, we create turnovers and our transition offense develops too."

Carson Newman Head Coach Dean Walsh
"Obviously, it's not the way we wanted to end the season. I was proud of our effort, but you have to make shots to win." (shot 30 percent from the field). Lander and Tusculum will be an interesting matchup. I really think Clayton State woke up a sleeping giant when they beat Lander in the Peach Belt tournament. That loss ignited a fire in Lander. Tusculum is as hot as any team in the country so it will be exciting."