GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Newberry placed four players in double figures, but it wasn't enough to overcome Tusculum on the road Saturday afternoon as the Lady Indians fell, 84-71, to the Pioneers. With the victory, Tusculum improves to 15-8 overall and 6-6 in the SAC.  Newberry slips to 14-11 and 5-7 in the league, but still has a shot at a first-round playoff game and a tie for third place in the league.

Tonique Frasier (Walterboro, S.C.) tied a season-high 20 points for the Newberry cause.  Tonya Deese (Newberry, S.C.) notched a double-double with 17 points and 16 rebounds.  Ashlee Wright (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) and Monica Alexander (Norcross, Ga.) chipped in 16 and 11, respectively.

Stephany Neptune (Wallkill, N.Y.) posted 20 points and 10 rebounds and Brooke Underwood (Knoxville, Tenn.) dished out a school single-game record 14 assists. Chassity Martin (Salem, Va.) scored a game-high 23 points for the Pioneers, and Amber Redding (Sevierville, Tenn.) added 15.

The first half of the game was a nip-and-tuck affair, with six ties and nine lead changes.  Tusculum built the largest lead of the period when Lauren Wrightson (Germantown, Md.) converted a three-point play to put Tusculum in front 27-19 at the 8:12 mark.  Newberry battled back into the thick of things, scoring eight straight points to tie the contest at 27-27 with 6:02 remaining in the half.

The teams swapped leads from there and Redding drained a long three-point shot at the buzzer to give the Pioneers a 39-37 lead at intermission.

The second period began in much the same fashion as the first half, as the teams battled closely.  Wright made a lay-up with just over five minutes expired to give Newberry a 53-47 advantage.  Martin sank a three-pointer with 13:44 showing on the clock to tie the game at 53-53, but Newberry regained a slight edge until Tusculum pulled ahead 63-62 with 7:36 left in the game.

The Pioneers would never relinquish the lead from there, pulling ahead by seven, 71-64, on a Martin jumper at the 4:38 juncture.  Newberry would get no closer than six points down the stretch, and TC's largest lead of the game was the final tally, 84-71.

The Lady Indians amassed 54 points in the paint, but TC benefited from 27 points off 15 Newberry turnovers.  Newberry out-rebounded Tusculum 36-25.

Both teams posted solid overall field goal percentages, with TC converting 51.9 percent of its field goal attempts (28-of-54) and NC shooting 50.8 percent (31-of-61) from the field.  The Lady Indians were just 1-of-11 (9.1 percent) from three-point range, compared to 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) for the Pioneers.  TC made 86.4 percent of its free throw attempts (19-of-22), while NC connected on 53.3 percent (8-of-15).

Both squads will be on the road for their next SAC match-ups on Wednesday.  Tusculum travels to Presbyterian, while Newberry will play at Lenoir-Rhyne.  Tip-off for both contests will be 6 p.m.