Women’s Basketball Loses to Tusculum

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Lions' women's basketball team lost to SAC rival Tusculum College, 91-70 Saturday afternoon in Stanford Arena. Taylor Deal entered Mars Hill's 1,000-point club scoring a team high 18 points in the contest.

Tusculum College outscored Mars Hill College 36-9 over the final 12 minutes of the first half to enjoy a 45-28 lead at the intermission. The Pioneers (12-4, 6-2 SAC) won their fifth straight game and set a season high in points by overcoming a 10-point deficit with a pair of 13-0 runs. Tusculum maintains a share of the SAC lead with Catawba, which defeated Newberry 58-53. The Lions dropped to 10-7 overall and 3-5 in the SAC with the loss.

Kendal Baxter led the Pioneers with 24 points, with Jama Hammontree and Linda Aughburns each posting season highs with 17 points apiece. Tusculum grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and shot a season-best 88% (22-for-25) from the foul line in the victory.

Following Deal was Jackie Simon with 16 and Tyler Carlson with 14. Carlson added five assists. The Lions outshot the Pioneers 44% to 43%, but committed 21 turnovers which Tusculum converted into 25 points.

Mars Hill bolted to a 19-9 lead following two free throws by Carlson with 11:50 left in the first half. A three-pointer by Hammontree triggered a 13-0 run which gave the Pioneers their first lead of the day at 22-19 following a layup by Staci Hicks with 8:54 to play in the half.

Trailing 23-22 with 7:16 left in the half, the Pioneers went on another 13-0 run to build a 35-23 lead with 3:59 left in the first half. The Pioneers built their lead to 17 points at halftime, taking a 45-28 lead to the locker room behind a game-high 15 points from Baxter.

A three-pointer by Hammontree gave Tusculum a 48-28 lead on the first possession of the second half. Mars Hill would not get the deficit under 15 until a layup by Armeka Booker cut the Tusculum lead to 66-52 with 6:34 remaining.

The basket was part of a 13-2 run by the Lions that saw Mars Hill pull within 68-61 on two free throws by Booker with 4:26 left. However, Hammontree responded with a three-pointer with 4:08 to go to restore Tusculum's double-figure lead, a basket that triggered a 12-0 run which gave the Pioneers an 80-61 advantage with 2:43 to play.

Booker paced the Lions off the bench with seven points and four rebounds in nine minutes of playing time. Amanda Westbrook also contributed off the Mars Hill bench with four points and five boards.

The Lions will host Catawba College on Wednesday night. Tip-off in Stanford Arena is set for 6 p.m.