HARROGATE, Tenn. --- Reigning South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week Brianna Dixon equaled her career high for the second straight game with 22 points to boost Tusculum University to a 51-43 victory at Lincoln Memorial University in a key SAC women's basketball game Wednesday evening at Tex Turner Arena.
Dixon added eight rebounds and hit three key free throws in the final 40 seconds as the Pioneers (11-14, 9-12 SAC) won their season-best fourth consecutive game and moved a game and a half ahead of Lincoln Memorial and Lenoir-Rhyne in the race for the final SAC Championship tournament berth with three games remaining. The Pioneers are also a half-game behind Newberry for seventh place and one full game back of sixth-place UVA Wise, who Tusculum hosts next Wednesday at Pioneer Arena.
Jalia Arnwine added 12 points and Jordan Rogers contributed 10 points and four steals for the Pioneers, who have held their opponents to less than 53 points in five straight games and eight of the last ten. Over that 10-game span, the Pioneers have allowed an average of 55.5 points per game and forced 19.6 turnovers per contest.
Dixon, who scored 22 points in Saturday's 56-49 win at Limestone to match her career best set last season against Carson-Newman, shot 8-for-18 from the field and 4-for-5 from the foul line, while adding two assists and two steals. Rogers, who was making her first start since Jan. 19, played 32 minutes and was 3-for-6 from the field and 4-for-4 at the line and matched her career high with four steals, including a key theft in the final minute with the Pioneers holding on to a six-point lead.
Mikayla Kuehne led the Railsplitters (9-14, 7-13 SAC) with 16 points and six rebounds and Lauren Flowers added 15 points and seven boards, but Lincoln Memorial shot just 2-for-11 from three-point range as a team and committed 18 turnovers. Irelynn Davisson, who entered the game leading the SAC in three-point shooting, missed her only two attempts in 38 minutes of playing time and finished with a season-low two points. The loss was the fourth in a row for Lincoln Memorial, their sixth straight home defeat and their ninth setback in their last 10 games.
Tusculum used a 16-0 first-quarter run to take a 19-4 lead, and led 26-11 at intermission. The 11 points allowed by the Pioneers in the first half came on 5-for-21 shooting and are the fewest points allowed by Tusculum in a half since joining the SAC for the 1999-2000 season. LMU shot 5-for-21 (23.8 percent) in the first half then improved to 52.4 percent (11-for-21) in the second half to end the game at 38.1 percent (16-for-42) from the field.
Lincoln Memorial scored the first two points of the game on a bucket by Flowers after the teams combined to miss their first five shots. A three-pointer from Dixon gave the Pioneers the lead at 3-2, but a Flowers bucket with 6:43 left in the first quarter put the Railsplitters back up 4-3. From there, it was all Tusculum as LMU missed its final five shots from the field in the period and turned the ball over seven times. Dixon, Arnwine and Rogers combined to score all 19 points for the Pioneers in the opening quarter, with a three-pointer from Dixon with two seconds left giving the Pioneers a 19-4 lead after one.
A Flowers bucket one minute into the second quarter snapped the LMU drought at more than 7 1/2 minutes, but the Pioneers kept their lead in double figures as both teams scuffled from the field in the quarter. Tusculum shot 2-for-12 and missed all seven of its three-point attempts in the period, while Lincoln Memorial was 3-for-11 from the field and 0-for-3 from deep.
The Pioneers led 26-11 at halftime as Dixon had 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting along with four rebounds. The Pioneers shot 34.6 percent (9-for-26) from the field in the half and were 5-for-5 from the foul line. Flowers had six points and five rebounds to lead the Railsplitters, while Kuehne had four points and Lexi Kiser had one on the only made free throw of the half for Lincoln Memorial.
Tusculum's lead continued in double figures, with baskets by Rogers, Dixon and Arnwine in the third quarter giving the Pioneers a 32-18 lead with 5:26 to play. Tusculum would go up 36-19 on a free throw from Mya Belton with 3:46 to play in the period, but Lindsay Proffitt would nail a three-pointer from the Railsplitters and add two free throws near the end of the quarter. Rogers would connect from the field in the final seconds to send Tusculum to the fourth with a 40-24 lead.
After being stifled through three quarters, the Lincoln Memorial offense came to life in the fourth as Kuehne and Flowers made baskets to bring the Railsplitters within 40-28 with 9:12 left. The margin would be trimmed to eight at 40-32 on Davisson's only basket with 5:02 left, as Tusculum started 0-for-4 from the field with four turnovers and went into the foul bonus less than two minutes into the quarter. A layup by Alyssa Walker would give the Pioneers a 42-32 lead with 4:13 left, but two free throws by Flowers and two by Kuehne sandwiched a basket by Arnwine as Tusculum held a 44-36 edge with 2:35 to go.
Arnwine's layup, with 3:29 left, would be the final field goal of the game for the Pioneers as three straight misses surrounded a Kuehne putback which brought LMU within 44-38 with 1:35 left. The Railsplitters would be forced to foul to get into the bonus, and when the Pioneers got there they took advantage by hitting 7-for-8 from the line in the final 37 seconds, including two apiece from Walker and Rogers in the final 15 seconds after a three from Kuehne made it 47-41 Pioneers inside of 15 seconds to play.
Walker played 18 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers and finished with four points and two rebounds. Belton fouled out in 31 minutes and was held to just three points, but had six rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot. Sophie Henry played all 40 minutes at point guard and was scoreless, but did not commit a turnover while adding three assists, two rebounds and a pair of steals for the Pioneers.
Proffitt was limited to five points for Lincoln Memorial but had a team-high eight rebounds in 35 minutes of playing time. The Railsplitters outrebounded the Pioneers 33-29 but saw Tusculum score 18 points off turnovers and have a 13-3 edge in fast-break points.
Tusculum will host Coker on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Pioneer Arena. The Cobras have won two straight games but are on the cusp of being eliminated from postseason play, as Coker sits at 6-16 overall and 5-15 in the SAC. The Pioneers beat the Cobras 64-45 on the road on Jan. 15 and have won the last 12 meetings with Coker, including seven in a row at home.
