GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Three road games in three states in a span of six days await the Tusculum University women's basketball team as the Pioneers look to jockey their way back into the South Atlantic Conference postseason race this week.

The Pioneers (7-12, 5-10 SAC) enter the week in a three-way tie for ninth place in the conference standings with Queens and Lenoir-Rhyne, and a half-game back of Newberry and UVA Wise who are tied for seventh at 6-10.

Tusculum will visit Carson-Newman on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. before traveling to Newberry to face the Wolves on Saturday at 2 p.m. The road swing will conclude next Monday, Feb. 7 as the Pioneers go to Mars Hill for a makeup game with the Lions.

Tusculum is coming off a week of extremes, which began Wednesday with an 80-55 home loss to Anderson in which the Trojans went on a 33-0 second-half run. The Pioneers came back on Saturday with perhaps their finest performance of the season in a 78-51 rout of Lenoir-Rhyne at Pioneer Arena.

RECAPPING THE WEEK
Anderson erased a third-quarter deficit with a lengthy run and went on to claim an 80-55 victory over Tusculum Wednesday evening at Pioneer Arena. Shameka McNeill scored a game-high 28 points and Samantha Michel added 21 points off the bench for the Trojans, who scored 33 straight points after the Pioneers took a 38-32 lead in the first minute of the third quarter. Anderson outscored Tusculum 27-3 in the third quarter and 48-20 in the second half after trailing by three at halftime.

Jalia Arnwine led the Pioneers with 20 points, including the 1,000th of her career early in the second quarter, and Brianna Dixon added 17 for Tusculum, which shot 20.6 percent (7-for-34) from the field in the second half and 32.3 percent (21-for-65) for the game. The Pioneers were outrebounded by the Trojans by a 44-32 margin and the Anderson bench outscored the Tusculum reserves 33-8.

On Saturday, Tusculum raced to a 20-point halftime lead and never looked back as the Pioneers routed Lenoir-Rhyne 78-51 at Pioneer Arena. The Pioneers set season highs for points, field goals made (29), field goal percentage (.483), three-pointers made (12), three-point percentage (.480), assists (22), fewest turnovers (8) and steals (13). Jalia Arnwine and Mya Belton each finished with season highs in scoring, as Arnwine netted 24 and Belton contributed 19, while Brianna Dixon matched her season best with 21 points.

Tusculum led 45-25 at halftime and did not lead by any fewer than 19 points in the second half to finish the season sweep of the Bears, who turned the ball over 16 times, shot 39.5 percent (17-for-43) from the field and were outrebounded 34-26 by the Pioneers. The win was the 10th consecutive for Tusculum over Lenoir-Rhyne and their fifth in a row over the Bears at Pioneer Arena.

PROFILING THE PIONEERS
Arnwine has scored 20 or more points in back-to-back games for the second time in her career, having done so last season against Lincoln Memorial and Coker on Feb. 17 and 20, 2021. She is up to 192 three-pointers, leaving her eight shy of becoming the third player in program history to make 200 career threes. Arnwine is second on the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game, and continues to lead the SAC in minutes per game at 36.2. Her 39 three-pointers are fourth-most in the conference, and she has scored in double figures in 12 of the last 13 games.

Dixon bounced back from a pair of tough shooting performances against Queens and Anderson by hitting 7-for-17 from the field to match her season high with 21 points against Lenoir-Rhyne. Dixon went 4-for-5 at the foul line against the Bears and is 37-for-44 (84.1 percent) at the stripe this season, which would rank seventh in the SAC if she qualified.

Belton's 19 points against Lenoir-Rhyne surpassed her season high of 17 set against Newberry on Dec. 15. Her streak of consecutive games with double figures in rebounding ended at four against Lenoir-Rhyne, but she is still second in the SAC with an average of 9.2 boards per game. Belton, who averages 12.3 points per game, is sixth in the SAC in blocks at 1.4 per game and 21st in steals at 1.4 per contest.

Forward Chloe Warrington hit a milestone against Lenoir-Rhyne as she made her 200th collegiate three-pointer. Warrington made 127 threes in two seasons at Phoenix College, sank 55 in two years at Fort Lewis College, and has drilled 19 this season for the Pioneers for a total of 201 treys in 111 career games.

Guard Sophie Henry had two steals against Lenoir-Rhyne to give her nine in four games since returning after missing five games due to injury. Henry is seventh in the SAC with a team-high 1.9 steals per game for the Pioneers, and she is tied for 11th in the conference in assists at 3.0 per contest.

The Pioneers are 11th in the conference in scoring at 59.3 points per game, and fourth in scoring defense at 60.6 per contest. Tusculum remains second in the SAC in field-goal percentage defense at .371 and remain fourth in free throw percentage at 71.8 percent at the line. Over the last five games, the Pioneers are shooting 85.0 percent (51-for-60) at the foul line.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Carson-Newman (17-4, 14-3 SAC) earned a pair of wins last week to stay in sole possession of third place in the SAC standings. The Eagles beat Lincoln Memorial 68-61 on the road on Wednesday, and returned home for a 78-57 victory over Newberry on Saturday for their eighth win in nine games during January. Braelyn Wykle led Carson-Newman in scoring in both games, netting 19 in the win over LMU and 20 in the Newberry victory.

Wykle is third in the SAC in scoring at 19.0 points per game and had scored in double figures in each of her first 18 games this season before being limited to three points at Wingate on Jan. 22. Wykle, who snapped an 0-for-13 stretch from three-point range by going 3-for-4 against Newberry, is fourth in the conference in free throw percentage (87.5 percent), tied for 11th in assists per game (3.0) and eighth in steals per game (2.0).

Also averaging in double figures are junior forward Lindsey Taylor at 14.6 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game, and freshman guard Campbell Penland who is averaging 10.8 points per game and is second on the team to Wykle with 38 three-pointers. Junior guard Skylar Boshears checks in at 9.4 points per game and senior guard Addison Byrd is averaging 9.3 points per contest. Taylor is 10th in the SAC in scoring and 11th in rebounding, and Penland has made at least one three-pointer in all but one game this season.

The Eagles lead the SAC in scoring average (81.3 ppg), assists per game (17.8) and blocks per game (5.3) and are second in field goal percentage (45.4 percent) and steals per game (11.0). The only category where the Eagles rank low in the conference is three-point defense, where Carson-Newman is 10th at 32.3 percent.

Carson-Newman beat Tusculum 94-68 at Pioneer Arena on Nov. 17 to extend their lead over the Pioneers in SAC regular-season games to 31-13. Tusculum has not played against the Eagles at Holt Fieldhouse since Jan. 15, 2020 when the Pioneers came away with a 71-66 victory. The Pioneers did play two games at Holt last season, beating Tuskegee 77-64 in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Tournament and losing 74-59 to Belmont Abbey in the region semifinals.

Newberry (6-13, 6-10 SAC) had its three-game winning streak come to an end with Saturday's 78-57 loss at Carson-Newman. Prior to that, the Wolves had beaten Limestone (79-71) on the road and UVA Wise (70-62) and Coker (64-40) at home to catapult into seventh place in the conference standings.

The Wolves do not have a player averaging double figures, as they are led in scoring by junior guard Giulia Bongiorno at 9.8 points per game. Junior center Tyla Stolberg averages 8.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game off the bench, and senior guard Talia Roberts checks in at 8.0 points per game. Junior forward Mylaysia Gates leads the Wolves in rebounding at 5.8 per game and averages 5.9 points per contest.

The Wolves are last in the SAC in turnovers with an average of 21.7 per game, and rank 10th in the conference in scoring at 59.5 points per contest. Newberry is second in the conference in offensive rebounding at 14.4 per game, and hold a rebounding margin of plus-3.2 per game which is fifth in the league. The Wolves are 11th in the SAC in both field goal percentage (36.0 percent) and foul shooting (67.2 percent) and 10th in three-point percentage at 26.9 percent.

Tusculum beat Newberry 71-61 at Pioneer Arena on Dec. 15 for their third straight win over the Wolves. The Pioneers lead the all-time series 30-24 over the Wolves, and have won three in a row at Eleazer Arena after a 10-game losing streak from 2009 to 2018. The Wolves still have a 13-10 edge in home games over the Pioneers.

Mars Hill (1-15, 1-13 SAC) was scheduled to host Tusculum on Jan. 12, but were unable to play due to COVID-19 protocols within the program. The Lions enter the week on a seven-game losing streak since their lone victory, a 61-59 win over Lincoln Memorial on Dec. 11. Mars Hill has three games scheduled before the meeting with the Pioneers, as the Lions host Limestone on Monday and UVA Wise on Wednesday before traveling to Wingate on Saturday, Feb. 5.

The Lions are led by guard De'Ja Marshall who averages 14.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Marshall scored in double figures in 14 of the Lions' first 16 games, including 26 at Carson-Newman on Dec. 15 and 25 at Newberry on Jan. 8. Senior forward Zanah Boyd is averaging 11.6 points per game and freshman guard Maddie Gillie checks in at 11.0 points per game for the Lions, who are last in the conference in scoring (56.4 ppg), field goal percentage (.329), three-point percentage (.252), scoring defense (79.1 ppg) and opponent field goal percentage (.445).

Tusculum has won eight straight against Mars Hill, winning 69-46 at home on Jan. 13 of last season and 111-59 on the road on Feb. 10, and the Pioneers now lead the all-time series 29-25.

FOLLOW THE PIONEERS
Fans can watch the action of Tusculum women's basketball all season at TusculumPioneers.com on the Pioneer Sports Network and the SAC Digital Network. The radio call of the games will also be available locally on WSMG Radio on 95.5 FM and 1450 AM, as well as online at https://jewel955.com/listenlive.