Wednesday, February 27, 2008

 

TUSCULUM WOMEN EDGES MARS HILL 59-53 IN DEFENSIVE BATTLE,
PIONEERS CLAIM OUTRIGHT SAC TITLE

 

2007-08 SAC Champions                MARS HILL, N.C. --- Stephany Neptune (Wallkill, N.Y.) recorded 10 points and 17 rebounds to lead the No. 21 Tusculum College women’s basketball team to a 59-53 win at Mars Hill College, Wednesday night at Stanford Arena.   With the victory, the Pioneers claimed the outright South Atlantic Conference Championship, their first in school history.

 

                Ashlil Oliver (Kokomo, Ind.) recorded 15 points, while Jasmine Gunn (Nashville, Tenn.) added 10 points and five assists in TC’s ninth straight victory as the Pioneers improved to 24-3 overall and 13-1 in the league.  The Pioneers end its regular season and will be the top-seed in next week’s Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament.  Mars Hill (15-11, 5-8 SAC) will wrap up its regular season on Saturday when the Lions host Lenoir-Rhyne.

 

                MHC’s Brittini Young (Ramseur, N.C.) led all scorers with 22 points, while Lindsay Roberts (Murphy, N.C.) added a dozen points and seven rebounds in the loss.

 

                Mars Hill frustrated the SAC’s top scoring offense all night, by limiting the Pioneers to its lowest point total of the season.

 

                With the score tied 35-35 with 14:17 remaining in the game, both teams went ice cold from the floor before Young broke the deadlock with a running 10-foot jumper in the paint.  The Lions would take its biggest lead of the night at 43-38 at the 8:18 mark after a pair of free throws by Young.

 

                Tusculum responded with a 14-1 spurt over the next five minutes, thanks to three-pointers by Gunn and Oliver as the Pioneers led 52-48 with 3:52 left on the clock.

 

                The Lions weren’t done though, as MHC used a 6-0 run, while TC missed the front end of two one-and-one bonus free throws and Young made two free throws with 1:05 left to cut the deficit to 55-53.

 

                But Oliver put the game away making her final four free throw attempts in the final minute to preserve the Tusculum win.

 

                Both teams shot below 40 percent on the night.  Mars Hill shot 37 percent, while Tusculum fired 36.4 percent from the field.

 

- TC -