HICKORY, N.C. - No. 4 seed Newberry College's season came to an end in the semifinals of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament for a fourth consecutive year as top-seeded Tusculum punched its ticket for the championship game with a 61-45 victory Saturday afternoon. The tournament is being held at the Catawba Valley Community College Arena.
The Pioneers (20-8) will face the winner of Saturday's second semifinal contest between No. 2 seed Wingate and sixth-seeded Carson-Newman.
Catherine Hintz led Tusculum off the bench with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Jasmine Parker added 13 markers, including 9-of-10 shooting from the free throw line.
The Newberry trio of Jessica Bearzatto, Brittany Brown and Helen McKinney posted eight points each, while Leeara Creet finished with seven markers to round out the scoring for the Wolves (17-11).
Tusculum shot 41.3 percent from the field, including 11-of-23 (47.8%) in the second half, while holding the Wolves to 28.8 percent shooting on the day. TC also dominated the glass, out-rebounding Newberry by a 44-27 margin, including 23-10 in the second half.
Newberry held the hot-hand early, jumping out to a 10-2 lead in the opening 4:29 capped off by a three-point play from Creet. The Wolves would extend their advantage out to their largest margin at 15-6 at the 11:27 mark of the half.
Tusculum responded with a 12-0 run over the next 4:36 which was sparked by Kendal Baxter as she scored eight of her 13 points during the sport, including her three free throws with 6:51 left before the intermission as the Pioneers led 18-15.
TC later rattled off eight consecutive points, including four points by Brittni Oliver and Jasmine Gunn converted her only field goal of the day as the Pioneers moved out to a 26-17 lead with 1:45 remaining before halftime.
The Wolves closed out period strong with a 6-0 run, including four markers by McKinney and two free throws from Brown as Newberry cut the deficit to 26-23 heading into the locker room.
In the second half, Tusculum opened the period with an 11-3 run, capped off by an offensive rebound and put-back by Hintz as the Pioneers took a 37-26 lead with 14:04 remaining.
Newberry would trim the deficit back eight on several occasions, including the final time with 5:46 left after two free throws by Leanne Watson as Tusculum led 45-37. But that's as close as the Wolves would get as the Pioneers went on an 8-0 run and led by as many as 18 down the stretch as Tusculum clinched its fourth consecutive 20-win season.
The Pioneers, which leads the league in scoring defense, held the opposition to under 60 points for a 15th time this season and fourth foe under 50 on the year.
Tusculum went 21-of-24 from the free throw stripe (87.5%), while Newberry fired 60 percent, including 6-of-13 in the second half.
Tusculum's four straight trips to the championship game marks only the second time in the history of the tournament that feat has been accomplished, joining Wingate who advanced to the finals from 1991-94.
Gunn, the two South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year, established a new league record on Saturday by starting in her 123rd game, breaking the previous record held by former Wingate All-American Anna Atkinson (122 from 2005-2009). Gunn has scored 177 career points in the SAC Tournament and needs four points in Sunday's tournament championship to break the previous record held by Mars Hill's Susie Hopson (180 from 1993-1996).
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What they are saying:
Tusculum head coach Adell Harris
(On her team's defense): “We have been challenging our team all year in being a good defensive team and I feel we've stepped up and have done that since Christmas. In a must win situation, with the arguably the best player in the nation (Gunn) having an off game, we had players step up to the situation and defensively, we were very, very, very, very tough.”
(On advancing to the championship game): “It will be a defensive battle… it always is. We must be ready to perform. If we can hold them to 60 points, out-rebound by five and be in the game with two minutes remaining, I really like our chances.”
Tusculum senior guard Jasmine Parker and sophomore guard Kendal Baxter (on playing Newberry for a third time):
Parker: “Our mentality was to do what we could in the second half and try to put them away and not let them gather any confidence and we did the best we could in making that happen. We know Newberry is a tough defensive team and we had to go to our strength
Baxter: “We concentrated on getting the ball inside in the second half and did what we could to get a great shot. We know we have to stick together to win and everyone needs to contribute and step up.”
Newberry head coach Sean Page:
(On the season): “I'm very proud of our kids. They played hard. It's been a good year, but not what we planned on or aimed for. It was disappointing in losing today and all credit goes to Tusculum, who was a far better team than us today.”
(On his team's performance): “Defensively, we kept them in the 60's, which was our goal, but we just weren't good enough on offense and didn't make our foul shots when we needed too.”
