Saturday, February 9, 2008

FIRST PLACE PIONEERS USE STRONG OPENING HALF IN 89-73 ROAD WIN AT CATAWBA

SALISBURY, N.C. --- Tusculum built a 20-point halftime lead and held off second half rally by host Catawba to claim an 89-73 win in South Atlantic Conference in women’s basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Goodman Gym. The Pioneers move a half game atop the league standings as they improve to 19-3 overall and 9-1 in the SAC.

The win sets up Wednesday’s showdown with Wingate, who is tied with Tusculum in the league loss column. That game will be played at Pioneer Arena beginning at 6 p.m.

Tusculum jumped out to a quick 20-6 advantage and would lead by as many as 22 in the opening half. The Pioneers hit on 54 percent of their shots, including 8-of-13 from behind the arc. Ashli Oliver (Kokomo, IN) had the hot hand with five three-pointers in the opening half.

Catawba still trailed by 20 at 67-47 with 10:50 left, but used an 11-0 run to pull within nine at the 7:21 mark and trimmed the deficit to 71-64 with 3:46 remaining. Oliver would squash the rally with her sixth three-pointer of the game to put Tusculum ahead 76-64 with 3:11 left. The Pioneers would make seven-of-eight from the line in the final 1:20 to keep their edge.

Oliver scored 22 points to lead Tusculum with 17 coming in the opening frame. Nikki Van Dine (Columbus, OH) had 13 of her 18 points in the first half, while Shantae Shank (Charlotte, NC) also added 18 points. Jasmine Gunn (Nashville, TN) totaled 13 points and nine assists.

NeKeithia Howard (Macon, GA/Northeast HS) led Catawba with a career-high 27 points. She made 13-of-17 shots and pulled down nine rebounds. Hillary Hampton (Salisbury, NC/W. Rowan HS) and Kisha Long (Dallas, NC/N. Gaston HS) each followed with 11 points. Catawba shot 53% in the second half, while the Pioneers cooled off from long range, hitting just 2-of-10 after the break.

Tusculum is one victory shy of its first 20-win season since the 1996-97 campaign when the Pioneers went 20-10.

- TC -