Lady Railsplitters Fall At Tusculum 79-58

Courtesy of Tusculum College

Box Score

GREENEVILLE, TN -- Sophomore Jasmine Gunn poured in a game-high 28 points on 9-of-19 shooting, and Stephany Neptune turned in a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds to lead the No. 15 Tusculum College women’s basketball team to a 79-58 South Atlantic Conference win over Lincoln Memorial University on Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena. The Lady Pioneers are now 18-3 overall and 8-2 in SAC play, while the Lady Railsplitters fall to 8-13 and 2-8 in conference action.

Tusculum recorded its 14th consecutive game with a field goal percentage of at least 43%, knocking down 28-of-64 attempts from the floor to finish the night with a 43.8% mark from the field. The Lady Pioneers forced 17 LMU turnovers in the game, converting those miscues into 13 points. Tusculum also won the battle on the glass by a 43-30 margin, including 15-7 on the offensive boards.

Gunn led all scorers in 28 points, while turning in a game-high six assists and tied a career best with eight rebounds.

Dayshalee Salaman led the Lady Railsplitters with 15 points, four assists and five steals. Whitney Vannoy and Kara Harris joined Salaman in double figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Salaman, Cena Nasiloski and Andi Winney tied for the team lead with four rebounds each.

The Lady Pioneers led wire-to-wire, opening the game with a 16-2 run which was capped by a driving layup by Gunn with 14:06 remaining in the period. After an LMU layup by Vannoy launched the Lady Railsplitters on a 10-6 run, Tusculum went on an 18-6 spurt over the next eight minutes to take a 40-18 lead on a layup by Gunn with 2:44 to go in the half. Lincoln Memorial would close out the half with a 6-2 spurt which cut the Tusculum lead to 42-24 heading into the intermission.

Lincoln Memorial built on its momentum from the closing moments of the first half with a 16-6 run in the opening minutes of the second half, cutting the lead to 48-40 on a Timethia Bennett layup with 13:07 left on the clock.

The Lady Railsplitters would keep the game close for the next four minutes, before Kat Spears launched the Lady Pioneers on a 14-2 run with a layup at the 7:29 mark. Gunn would cap the spurt with a three-pointer at the 3:18 mark as the Lady Pioneers opened their largest lead of the second half at 75-54. The Lady Pioneers closed out the win by scoring five of the last nine points to notch the 79-58 win.

LMU will host Brevard in a SAC doubleheader this Saturday.  Women's tip-off is at 6 p.m.

Which fall sport are you looking forward to the most?