Women’s Basketball downs Tusculum on Senior Day

MARS HILL, N.C. - Jessica Jones scored a career-high 24 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Lions gave Brittini Young an 80-66 victory over South Atlantic Conference regular-season champion Tusculum in her final home game in a Mars Hill uniform. Mars Hill improves to 17-9, 10-8 in the league, while the Pioneers fall to 18-8, 14-4 in conference play.

Young scored 11 points and currently sits in fourth place on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,722. She was 1-3 from behind the arc and 6-6 from the free throw line to give her 513 made free throws, 219 made three-pointers and 559 attempted three-pointers, all school career records.

Tyler Carlson added 19 points for Mars Hill. Taylor Deal had nine points and five rebounds.

Catherine Hintz posted a double-double for Tusculum with 32 points and 17 rebounds, with 11 of those coming on the offensive glass. Jasmine Gunn added 17.

The Pioneers led by five points nine minutes into the game. An old-fashioned three-point play by Hintz made the score 20-15, and Tusculum led 38-32 at halftime.

Down 44-43 with 13:45 left on the clock, Mars Hill went on a 12-4 spurt. A layup by Jones gave the Lions a 55-48 upper hand with 10:54 left in the game.

The Lions grabbed three double-digit leads in the final 2:59. Mars Hill drained eight straight free throws to end the game, highlighted by Carlson's six made attempts.

Tusculum outrebounded the Lions, 45-38. The Pioneers committed 20 turnovers compared to only 14 for the home team.

Mars Hill will be the fifth seed in the upcoming Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament. The opponent is yet to be determined.