Tusculum Wins First-Ever Food Lion SAC Tournament With A 67-55 Victory Over Newberry

HICKORY, N.C. - Fourth-seeded Tusculum College rewrote its history books Sunday afternoon as the Pioneers won their first-ever Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament title. Tusculum defeated second-seeded Newberry by a 67-55 score at Catawba Valley Community College Multipurpose Complex to earn the SAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. The official pairings for the Southeast Region Tournament will be announced on NCAA.com at 9 p.m. tonight.

Tusculum (20-9) claimed the victory thanks in large part to the long-distance shooting of Kendal Baxter (Sevierville, Tenn.). The freshman made five NBA-range treys in the final 12 minutes of the game, allowing Tusculum to keep Newberry at bay. Baxter finished with 17 points to lead all scorers. Tournament MVP Jasmine Gunn (Nashville, Tenn.) scored 15 points to become just the sixth player in TC history to tally over 1,500 points in her career while 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.

Newberry (21-8) was led by all-tournament selection Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio), who scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds, snapping a 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 pulled down eight boards.

Tusculum scorched the nets with stellar shooting early to take a quick lead. The 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 Pioneers run helped give Tusculum a 37-26 halftime lead. TC connected on 15-of-30 (50 percent) first half field goal attempts, while Newberry was held to 10-of-31 (32.3 percent) shooting in the half.

Tusculum's Kendall Baxter scored 17 points in the 2010 Food Lion SAC women's basketball tournament championship game.

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 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 percent shooting percentage from behind the arc in the second half. The Pioneers were 24-of-59 (40.7 percent) from the field in the game, while Newberry shot 22-of-59 (37.3 percent) from the floor.

2010 Food Lion SAC Tournament All-Tournament Team
Jasmine Gunn, Tusculum, MVP
Catherine Hintz, Tusculum
Kat Spears, Tusculum
Anita Bulcher, Newberry
Amber Holt, Lenoir-Rhyne

QUOTES:
Newberry head coach Sean Page:
"We started slow, missed a couple of things early. The first couple of plays, we didn't know who we were guarding. We probably weren't ready to go today."
"I said to my kids all today, and I said to the television people before the game, that the kid who had the chance to be the difference maker was the freshman, Kendall Baxter. She's a great shooter. When we got it to five, she'd make a three. When we got it to seven, she'd make a three."
"They outrebounded us. We've been outrebounded seven or eight games this year, and we've lost six of them."

Tusculum head coach Adell Harris:
"We're excited about the opportunity to advance and keep playing. I think we're a team that's getting better. We're peaking at the right time."
"These kids were ready to go. From the first horn, I knew they were ready. We were a team on a mission."
"Kendall Baxter is a weapon. I'm glad we have her on our side. When she's making shots, it's trouble for the other team."

At Hickory, N.C. (CVCC Arena)
TUSCULUM 67, NEWBERRY 55
TUSCULUM (20-9)
Baxter,Kendal 6-8 0-0 17; Gunn,Jasmine 5-15 5-7 15; Parker,Jasmine 4-10 3-4 11; Spears,Kat 5-12 1-1 11; Hintz,Catherine 3-9 1-2 7; Oliver,Brittni 1-3 1-2 4; Hicks,Staci 0-2 2-2 2; Shephard,Brenica 0-0 0-0 0; Moise,Fayola 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 13-18 67.
NEWBERRY (21-8)
Bulcher,Anita 5-9 6-6 16; Browne,Amy 5-10 0-0 11; Watson,LeAnne 4-11 1-2 9; McKinney,Helen 4-12 0-0 9; Bearzatto,Jessica 2-8 2-2 6; Johnson,Briana 1-5 0-0 2; Creet,Leeara 1-3 0-1 2; Henderson,Keisha 0-1 0-0 0; Ward,Janine 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-59 9-11 55.
Tusculum...................... 37 30 - 67
Newberry...................... 26 29 - 55
3-point goals--Tusculum 6-11 (Baxter,Kendal 5-7; Oliver,Brittni 1-3; Hicks,Staci 0-1), Newberry 2-12 (McKinney,Helen 1-7; Browne,Amy 1-3; Bearzatto,Jessica 0-1; Henderson,Keisha 0-1). Fouled out--Tusculum-None, Newberry-None. Rebounds--Tusculum 39 (Spears,Kat 12), Newberry 37 (Watson,LeAnne 8). Assists--Tusculum 12 (Parker,Jasmine 6), Newberry 14 (Bearzatto,Jessica 4). Total fouls--Tusculum 10, Newberry 19. Technical fouls--Tusculum-None, Newberry-None. A-454
Tusculum wins its first-ever Food Lion SAC Tournament.
The Pioneers receive an automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Division II Tournament.