HICKORY, N.C. - The second-seeded Newberry College women's basketball team fell, 67-55, to fourth-seeded Tusculum in the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament championship game at the CVCC Arena on Sunday evening.
Newberry will await the decision of the NCAA Division II Basketball Committee to see if it will qualify for the 2010 NCAA Tournament. The selection show will be on NCAA.com at 9 p.m. tonight.
Newberry (21-8) was led by all-tournament selection Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio), who scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds, snapping a stellar streak of 11 consecutive double-doubles. Amy Browne (Maroochydore, Australia) scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while LeAnne Watson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Tusculum (20-9) earned its first SAC Tournament championship in program history thanks in large part to the long-distance shooting of all-tournament selection Kendal Baxter (Sevierville, Tenn.). The freshman made five NBA-range triples in the final 12 minutes of the game, allowing TC to keep Newberry at bay. Baxter finished with 17 points to lead all scorers. Tournament MVP Jasmine Gunn (Nashville, Tenn.) scored 15 points and Jasmine Parker (Rex, Ga.) scored 11 points and dished out six assists. Kat Spears (Memphis, Tenn.) earned a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Tusculum scorched the nets with stellar shooting early to take a quick lead. The Lady Pioneers scored the first five points of the game and rushed out to a 16-4 lead in the first five minutes. Tusculum connected on its first five field goal attempts and went 8-of-11 in the game opening run.
Newberry was able to cut the lead to as few as eight points in the first half, but a late 7-1 Lady Pioneers run helped give Tusculum a 37-26 halftime lead. TC connected on 15-of-30 (50.0%) first half field goal attempts, while Newberry was held to 10-of-31 (32.3%) shooting in the half.
Newberry stepped up in the second half to cut the deficit to six points with 11:53 to play, but Baxter's long-distance daggers kept Tusculum ahead. A 9-0 Tusculum run on two Baxter three-pointers and a three-point play by Spears put the Lady Pioneers up by 16 points with 7:48 to play. That large cushion would prove to be all Tusculum needed as Newberry could not cut the deficit to single digits again until the final minute of the game.
Baxter's five three-pointers gave TC a 71.4% shooting percentage from behind the arc in the second half. The Lady Pioneers were 24-of-59 (40.7%) from the field in the game, while Newberry was 22-of-59 (37.3%) from the field.
