Tuesday, January 15, 2008

TUSCULUM WOMEN THWART CONVERSE, 114-59

SPARTANBURG, S.C. --- All 13 players on the Tusculum women’s basketball team scored as the Pioneers thwarted Converse, 114-59 Tuesday night at Hannah Gym. Tusculum (13-2) records its 10^th straight victory, while breaking the century mark for the first time since 2003 in TC’s previous visit to Converse.

Kat Spears led the TC charge with 20 points off the bench, shooting 9-for-10 from the floor. Jasmine Gunn, the reigning South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week, tallied 17 points and nine assists, while Ashli Oliver and Shantae Shank finished with 14 points each. Diana Neves rounded out the double-digit scoring with a dozen points.

Tusculum led wire-to-wire as the Pioneers opened the game on a 25-4 run in the first 8:15, including 12 unanswered points.

Sydney Brown led the Valkyries (2-17) with 15 points, while Ashley Arff added 13 points and eight rebounds in the loss.

Tusculum shot 54.8 percent from the floor, while dishing out a season-best 34 assists, which are the third most in school history. TC scored 64 points in the paint and 42 markers off of 25 turnovers by Converse.

TC led by as many as 33 (50-17) in the first half before settling for a 53-21 advantage at the intermission.

Tusculum returns to action on Saturday when the Pioneers host in-state foe Carson-Newman for a 2 p.m. league tilt.

- TC –

Newspaper Box Score

Tusculum vs Converse

01/15/08 7:00 pm at Spartanburg, S.C. (Hannah Gym)

At Spartanburg, S.C. (Hannah Gym)

TUSCULUM 114, CONVERSE 59

TUSCULUM (13-2)

Spears, Kat 9-10 2-3 20; Gunn, Jasmine 7-9 3-5 17; Shank, Shantae 6-11 1-4 14; Oliver, Ashli 5-11 0-0 14; Neves, Diana 4-7 2-2 12; Parker, Jasmine 4-11 0-0 8; Oliver, Brittni 3-3 0-0 6; French, Emily 2-6 0-0 6; Wilson, Jennifer 2-4 1-1 5; Obasogie, Chloe 2-6 1-1 5; Van Dine, Nikki 1-5 0-0 3; Neptune, Stephany 1-1 0-0 2; Davis, LaTasha 0-0 2-4 2. Totals 46-84 12-20 114.

CONVERSE (2-17)

Brown, Sydney 6-10 0-0 15; Arff, Ashley 4-9 4-4 13; Bothof, Kendra 4-9 3-3 11; McMahan, Jessica 2-6 0-0 5; Sacharski, Morgan 2-6 1-6 5; Halouslos, Lauren 1-4 0-0 3; Walker, Shai 1-8 1-2 3; Hendley, Myra 1-2 0-0 2; Williams, Brandy 1-8 0-0 2. Totals 22-62 9-15 59.

Tusculum...................... 53 61 - 114

Converse...................... 21 38 - 59

3-point goals--Tusculum 10-26 (Oliver, Ashli 4-10; Neves, Diana 2-3; French, Emily 2-5; Van Dine, Nikki 1-5; Shank, Shantae 1-2; Parker, Jasmine 0-1), Converse 6-12 (Brown, Sydney 3-4; McMahan, Jessica 1-3; Halouslos, Lauren 1-2; Arff, Ashley 1-2; Williams, Brandy 0-1). Fouled out--Tusculum-None, Converse-None. Rebounds--Tusculum 49 (Parker, Jasmine 8), Converse 38 (Arff, Ashley 8). Assists--Tusculum 34 (Gunn, Jasmine 9), Converse 11 (Williams, Brandy 4). Total fouls--Tusculum 11, Converse 19. Technical fouls--Tusculum-None, Converse-None. A-65