The women’s basketball team has taken Tusculum College to new heights during this year’s NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Tournament. For the first time in school history, a women’s basketball team advanced to the Elite Eight in the tournament as the Lady Pioneers defeated three nationally ranked teams on its way to making the national quarterfinals.
The Lady Pioneers overcame an early 16-point deficit to defeat 11th-ranked Lander University 70-63 on March 15 in the Southeast regional title game on Lander’s campus in Greenwood, S. C. The Lady Pioneers carried a nine-game winning streak into its match-up in the Elite Eight against the top-ranked team in the nation in Division II, Gannon University. The game Monday evening in St. Joseph, Mo., was a thrilling one featuring 11 ties and 10 lead changes. Some clutch free throws and three-pointers by Gannon in the final minutes sealed the win for the Pennsylvania school.
The team were busy after arriving in Missouri on Sunday morning for the Elite Eight. The team was treated to a tour of the city as well as Missouri Western State University, the host institution for the tournament. After settling in at the hotel, the team then returned to the Missouri Western State campus for a practice session and had the opportunity to see their opponents for the first time as Gannon was finishing its practice session.
On Monday, the Pioneers were involved in a community event, meeting with students of Dekalb Middle School in St. Joseph, who had followed the Southeast Region very closely. Reflecting the team’s activities in a partnership with a Greeneville elementary school, the students talked to the middle school students about the commitment to academics and athletics needed by student athletes and the importance of time management. Students from the middle school attended Monday’s game to form a very vocal cheering section for the Lady Pioneers.
The team also spent time at the St. Joseph Civic Arena, the game site for the Elite Eight. Tusculum Head Coach Adell Harris participated in a press conference at the arena later in the afternoon. The team finished their day by attending the NCAA Banquet of Champions at the Missouri Western State campus. At that banquet, it was announced that junior point guard Jasmine Gunn had earned WBCA All-America honors for the second straight season and had become the first player in program history to be named to the WBCA State Farm Coaches’ All-America Team.
The Tusculum women’s basketball team made its third straight NCAA tournament appearance. The Lady Pioneers punched their ticket for the tournament after winning the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Tournament, another first in the program’s history.
The women’s team finished fourth in the conference at the end of the regular season and was the winning host of its quarterfinal game of the SAC tournament. In the semi-final game, the Pioneers defeated the 24th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne College, the top seed in the tournament. The women’s team led Newberry College from wire-to-wire in the final.
Junior point guard Jasmine Gunn, who is from Antioch, Tenn., was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Joining Gunn on All SAC Tournament Team were senior forward Kat Spears of Memphis, Tenn., and junior center Catherine Hintz of Hastings, Minn.
Earlier in the week, Gunn had been named the 2010 SAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year for the regular season. Gunn has been a tremendous part of the Pioneers’ success this season, posting the program’s highest individual scoring average in 13 years, while entering the NCAA tournament week as the only player in the NCAA to rank in the top 35 in scoring, assists and steals.
Gunn has also been named 2010 Daktronics All-Southeast Region Women’s Basketball Team, garnering Southeast Region Player of the Year honors for the first time in her career and is the first player in program history to earn the honor. This marks the second year in a row that Gunn has been honored on the Daktronics All-Southeast Region Team, having garnered Second Team honors last season. Gunn has been also been named one of 41 national finalists for the 2010 State Farm Coaches’ All-America Women’s Basketball Team for NCAA Division II.
Also garnering SAC league honors were Kendal Baxter of Sevierville, Tenn., who was named to the conference’s All-Freshman Team. Baxter led the league in three-point shooting – her 105 season triples set a single-season program and conference record. Kat Spears received the Senior Award in recognition of her outstanding four-year career. A strong contributor in points and rebounds, Spears is ranked second on the Tusculum program’s all-time list of blocked shots.
At the end of the season, the conference also recognizes statistical champions. Gunn lead the conference with 3.08 steals per game. Catherine Hintz led the conference in field goal percentage at 58.7 percent. Baxter led in three-point shooting with 3.20 triples per game.
In its first game in the NCAA tournament, the Lady Pioneers came from behind to win a thrilling game 69-63 over 19th-ranked Clayton State University.
The semifinal game brought new records as the Lady Pioneers defeated 20th-ranked Francis Marion University. Gunn scored a SAC-record 45 points and set a trio of NCAA Division II marks in leading the women’s basketball team to a 103-95 win. The difference in the game came at the free throw line, where the Pioneers converted 38 of 52 attempts (73.1 percent) and set an NCAA Tournament record for chances at the charity stripe. Gunn converted 23 of 29 free throws, setting school, conference and NCAA Division II Tournament records. She also set an NCAA Division II single-game mark with the 29 attempts. Gunn’s 45 points were two-shy of the Tusculum record for a game.
Hintz and Jasmine Parker joined Gunn in scoring at least 20 points, the first time this season that three Pioneers have scored 20 or more in the same game. Hintz recorded a double-double as she pulled down 12 rebounds. Spears pulled down 10 rebounds to move into sixth place on the program’s all-time list. Kendal Baxter also scored in double figures and became the third player in program history to knock down at least 100 triples in a single season.
The Southeast Regional started out well for host Lander University as the Bearcats opened up a 16-point lead about midway through the first half. However, the Pioneers battled back to within three points of their opponents at half time. The second half was a close, seesaw affair as both teams swapped the lead. But, the Pioneers held on with crucial shots and free throws by Gunn and Brittni Oliver.
Gunn, who finished with 30 points, was named the Regional Tournament’s Most Valuable Player. During the game, she also established a new SAC single-season record with 216 made free throws this year.