GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Diamond McDowell scored 22 points and grabbed a Division II season-high 26 rebounds and Zamiya Passmore finished with 27 points as Anderson University defeated Tusculum University 88-67 in South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
The Trojans (21-9, 17-7 SAC) locked up the third seed in next week’s SAC Women’s Basketball Tournament and will face Mars Hill in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. at Rock Hill, South Carolina. Anderson outrebounded Tusculum 52-33 and had 18 second-chance points off 16 offensive rebounds.
McDowell recorded her 16th double-double in 22 games and surpassed the previous high in Division II this season of 25 rebounds set by Taylor Linzie of Dominican against Hawaii Pacific on Feb. 13. She shot 9-for-18 from the field and 4-for-5 from the foul line and added five assists in 36 minutes.
Passmore had six rebounds, seven assists and four steals to go along with her season high in scoring. Ashlyn Sheridan scored 14 points and Rose Gravel added 11 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Trojans.
The Pioneers (9-19, 7-17 SAC) were led by Zoe Sharpe with 12 points and four rebounds, with Abbi Douglas scoring 11 points and pulling a team-high nine rebounds and Jalyn Spurlin adding 10 points and seven boards in 20 minutes. The Pioneers shot 38.5 percent (25-for-65) from the field, including 7-for-23 on three-pointers.
Passmore scored 11 points in the opening quarter, but the teams were tied eight times until a late steal and layup from Passmore and a basket from Peytyn Oliver gave Anderson a 22-19 lead after the first period.
The Trojans went on a 17-5 run to open the second quarter, taking a 39-24 lead on a layup by McDowell with 4:33 remaining in the first half. A three-pointer from Jenna Kallenberg and a layup from Danyell Booker brought Tusculum within 10, but five straight points from Sheridan helped the Trojans to a 50-37 lead at intermission.
Passmore had 18 points and McDowell contributed 16 points and 16 rebounds in the first half for the Trojans, who shot 51.2 percent (21-for-41) as a team. Ni’Kiah Chesterfield was the top scorer for Tusculum with seven points in the first half, with six from Kallenberg and five points and six rebounds from Spurlin as the Pioneers shot 38.9 percent (14-for-36).
Tusculum trailed by 17 points midway through the third quarter, but outscored Anderson 14-5 over a 4 1/2 minute span to pull within 62-54 on a steal and layup by Douglas. The Trojans would close the quarter with a 10-2 surge, including a three-point play from Passmore in the final seconds, to take a 72-56 lead into the fourth.
The Trojans led by as many as 23 points in the fourth before a mini-run from the Pioneers got the margin down to 81-66 on a three-pointer from Kallenberg with 4:02 remaining. Trinity Upton would close the scoring by collecting her first career point on a foul shot with 13 seconds left for the Pioneers.
Chesterfield finished with nine points in 21 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers, but still locked up the SAC scoring title at 18.6 points per game. She also led the conference with 202 made field goals, and was sixth in field-goal percentage at 54.2 percent.
After the game, Tusculum celebrated Senior Day and recognized Kallenberg, Spurlin, Douglas, Monique Shim and Carleigh Wilson.
