MARS HILL, N.C. --- Jami Tham scored a career-high 31 points on 13-for-14 shooting from the field and pulled 15 rebounds as Tusculum University earned its seventh straight victory with an 80-68 win over Mars Hill University in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Stanford Arena.

The Pioneers (9-1, 3-0 SAC) shot 49.3 percent from the field (33-for-67) and led by as many as 26 points in the fourth quarter before the Lions (3-5, 0-2 SAC) halved the deficit in the final eight minutes. Deidre Cheremond shot 7-for-9 from the field and added 15 points and eight rebounds off the bench for Tusculum, while Alyssa Walker tallied 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting and a career-high six assists.

Mya Belton contributed 10 points and eight rebounds for the Pioneers, who shot just 3-for-23 from three-point range after hitting 18, 19 and 20 three-pointers in their last three visits to Mars Hill. Blayre Shultz contributed eight points and six assists for the Pioneers, who outrebounded the Lions by a 45-36 margin and scored 20 second-chance points off 11 offensive boards.

Tham's 13 field goals in 14 attempts is the second-best single-game field-goal percentage in program history (92.9 percent) with a minimum of 10 shots, trailing only a 10-for-10 performance from Jasmine Gunn against Virginia Intermont on Dec. 30, 2009. Tham also extended her streak of consecutive games with a double-double to 10 in as many games this season, which leads Division II. She is the first Pioneer to score 30 points in a game since Maddie Sutton tallied 33 at Coker on Feb. 20, 2021, while beating her previous career high of 29 set against King on Feb. 2, 2022.

Jo Snow led Mars Hill with 28 points on 10-for-20 from the field, including six three-pointers, with Maddie Gillie adding 12 points and seven rebounds and Janette Hanni scoring 11. The Lions shot 34.8 percent (23-for-66) from the field but went 14-for-35 from beyond the arc (40 percent) and a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line.

With the win, the Pioneers are off to a 9-1 start for the second time in three seasons. Tusculum entered the week receiving votes in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division II national poll and ranked sixth in the D2SIDA Southeast Region poll.

Tusculum trailed 6-4 just over two minutes into the first quarter, but scored eight straight to take a 12-6 lead on a layup by Shultz with 4:52 left in the opening quarter. A free throw by Tham extended the Tusculum lead to 15-8 with 3:33 to go in the period, but a 7-0 run by the Lions was capped by a Hanni three-pointer to tie the game at 15-15 with 1:38 left. Walker would give the Pioneers a 19-17 lead after one quarter as she sank a layup with five seconds to go.

Tusculum opened the second quarter by scoring seven straight points, capped by a putback by Walker that gave the Pioneers a 26-17 lead with 6:07 left in the half. The Lions went 0-for-4 from the field with four turnovers to start the quarter before Snow made a layup just over four minutes into the quarter. After the Lions crept within 26-22 on a Snow three-pointer with 5:26 until half, the Pioneers got back-to-back buckets from Cheremond and three in a row from Shultz as part of a 12-2 run that gave Tusculum a 38-24 lead with 2:17 left. Tham would convert a three-point play with 12.1 seconds left to send the Pioneers to the locker room with a 44-29 lead.

Tham led the Pioneers with 14 points and nine rebounds on 6-for-6 shooting from the field in the first half, while Shultz had eight points and Walker and Belton added seven apiece. Tusculum shot 52.8 percent (19-for-36) from the field and outrebounded Mars Hill 26-16 in the opening half. Snow led the Lions with 12 points and Hanni scored eight, but Mars Hill shot 32.3 percent (10-for-31) and was outscored 16-2 on second-chance points in the half.

Tusculum went on an 11-0 run in the third quarter as the Lions missed seven straight shots across a span of more than five minutes. A layup by Cheremond gave the Pioneers a 57-34 lead with 3:30 left in the quarter, and Tham scored the final four points of the period as Tusculum carried a 61-37 lead to the fourth.

The Pioneers would take their largest lead of the game at 65-39 on a basket by Cheremond with 8:20 left, but the Lions went on a 13-2 run to pull within 67-52 on a three-pointer by Naya Clamp with 4:31 to go. A three-point play by Cheremond with 4:11 to play and two foul shots by Walker with 3:32 left would push Tusculum's lead back to 20. Tham would score seven straight for the Pioneers to repel a late Lions rally, which featured two three-pointers apiece from Gillie and Snow. Mars Hill scored 31 points in the fourth quarter, hitting seven three-pointers in 11 attempts in the period.

Tusculum finished the game with 17 turnovers while Mars Hill turned the ball over 20 times which led to 21 points for the Pioneers. Tusculum outscored Mars Hill 56-16 in the paint and had 22 assists on their 33 made field goals. Sophie Henry, who had a career-high 11 assists against UVA Wise on Wednesday, dished out six assists in 35 minutes for the Pioneers against the Lions.

The Pioneers will play their next four games at home, starting Monday, Dec. 12 at 5:30 p.m. against Brescia. The Bearcats are 1-9 overall and have lost five straight games, including a 72-61 setback to Indiana University Kokomo on Saturday.