ANDERSON, S.C. — Anderson University used a first-half scoring surge to defeat Tusculum University 81-38 in South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.
Ciara Harris had 19 points and seven rebounds and Ashley Hill scored 18 points for the Trojans (6-8, 2-6 SAC), who scored 49 points off 38 Pioneer turnovers and held Tusculum to 31.3 percent shooting (15-for-48) for the game.
Maddison Neale scored a season-high 15 points for the Pioneers (1-13, 1-7 SAC), who had a 42-35 rebounding advantage over the Trojans. Dora Van Rijs led Tusculum with seven rebounds with six apiece from Julia Szwichtenberg and Abbi Douglas. Martina Garofalo had seven points and three steals for the Pioneers, with six points from Douglas and five from Josie Horner.
Anderson scored the first eight points of the game and held a 10-5 lead midway through the first quarter before going on a 32-4 run across the next 12 minutes. Tusculum missed its first eight shots of the second quarter before scoring on its final four possessions to go to halftime facing a 46-17 deficit.
Douglas had all six of her points in the third quarter while Neale had five points as the Pioneers played the Trojans even for the first seven minutes of the period. Anderson would score the final six points of the quarter to go up 65-30 after three quarters, and the Trojans would not allow consecutive baskets to the Pioneers in the fourth.
Neale shot 6-for-12 from the field and 3-for-7 on three-pointers to surpass her previous high of 13 points against Lees-McRae on Nov. 15. She added four rebounds in a season-high 27 minutes for the Pioneers and accounted for 15 of the Pioneers’ 21 bench points in the game.
Anderson finished the game at 43.7 percent (31-for-71) from the field and 5-for-17 on three-pointers, while going 14-for-16 at the free throw line. The Trojans outscored the Pioneers 34-16 in the paint and collected all 14 fast-break points in the contest.
The Pioneers will wrap up their stretch of seven straight road games on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at UVA Wise beginning at 5:30 p.m. The Cavaliers lost 69-54 at Catawba on Saturday and sit in fifth place in the SAC at 5-3 in league play and 8-6 overall, and will be playing their first home game since Dec. 13.
