GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Anderson University defeated Tusculum University 69-62 in South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
The Trojans (12-16, 8-14 SAC) snapped a five-game losing streak and secured the eighth and final spot in the SAC Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament, where they will face top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 4 beginning at noon in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
The Pioneers (2-26, 2-20 SAC) were led by Abbi Douglas who poured home 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the final game of her college career. Martina Garofalo added a season-high 15 points for the Pioneers, who outshot the Trojans 45.6 percent to 40.6 percent in the game.
Douglas was 8-for-17 from the field, including two three-pointers, and 5-for-7 at the foul line to reach the 20-point mark for the fourth time this season. Garofalo shot 7-for-10 from the field and had five rebounds and three assists to surpass her season high of 14 points set against Mars Hill on Dec. 17 and matched at Carson-Newman on Jan. 28.
Tusculum shot 26-for-57 from the field but went just 4-for-16 from three-point range, including 0-for-5 in the fourth quarter. Anderson was 26-for-64 from the field but nailed nine three-pointers in 19 attempts, including 3-for-4 from Jaida Brooks and 3-for-5 from Ashlyn Sheridan. Brooks had a team-high 15 points along with seven assists for the Trojans while Kyla Cain had 12 points, with nine points and eight boards for Ciara Harris and nine points from Sheridan.
The Pioneers led for most of the first quarter, building a 20-13 lead on a layup by Garofalo with 2:21 left in the period. Anderson would come back to tie the score at 20-20 on back-to-back buckets from Rose Gravel and a late three-pointer from Alana Eakle. Neither team led by more than three points in the second quarter, with Tusculum going on top 28-25 with 4:10 to play on back-to-back baskets from Julia Szwichtenberg. Harris would run off five straight points to give the Trojans a 30-28 lead with 2:01 to play, and a three-pointer from Brooks with 34 seconds left put Anderson on top 33-30 at halftime.
Douglas led all players with 15 points in the first half for the Pioneers, who were 13-for-29 (44.8 percent) from the field as a team. Brooks had 10 points to pace the Trojans with seven off the bench from Gravel, with Anderson shooting 37.1 percent (13-for-35) from the field.
Anderson would open the third quarter with a 14-3 run, broken up midway by a three-pointer from Tusculum’s Aisha Patel, as the Trojans held a 47-33 lead with 5:10 left in the period. The teams would trade baskets for the final three minutes, leaving Anderson on top 56-44 heading to the final quarter. Anderson took its largest lead of the day at 65-50 on a layup by Jessica Cooper with 3:29 left, but the Pioneers rallied as Douglas scored six points to cut the margin to 67-58 with 19 seconds left. Tusculum would get two more baskets in the final seconds following Anderson turnovers, as both Garofalo and Patel scored for the Pioneers.
Patel had seven points and three rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers, with Szwichtenberg adding four points and five boards. Angela Gomez tallied eight points and had four assists in 33 minutes, as Tusculum had 35 rebounds in the game to 37 for Anderson.
Anderson scored 20 points off 21 turnovers by Tusculum, while the Pioneers turned 16 Trojan miscues into 18 points of their own. Tusculum had a 36-26 edge in paint scoring and outscored Anderson 20-11 on fast breaks.
