Tusculum, Wingate Earn Bids To NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS --- The Tusculum College women's basketball team will make its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament, earning the sixth seed in the Southeast Regional hosted by Clayton State University in Morrow, Ga.

The Pioneers (21-8), the defending Southeast Region champions, will face third seed University of South Carolina Aiken in Friday's quarterfinal action at the Athletics & Fitness Center on the Clayton State campus. Game time and ticket information will be announced Monday.

Tusculum earned its second straight Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament championship with a 77-66 victory over Wingate University Sunday afternoon, securing the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. USC Aiken (26-5) lost 62-49 to Georgia College in the Peach Belt Conference championship game and earned an at-large bid to the tournament.

Last year, the Pioneers entered the Southeast Regional as the seventh seed after winning their first-ever SAC title, then upset three nationally-ranked teams to capture the regional crown and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time. Tusculum is 4-3 in three previous trips to the NCAA Division II tournament.

Friday's game between the Pioneers and the Pacers will be the second meeting of the year between the squads. USC Aiken defeated Tusculum 61-48 in the Lady Bearcat D2 Tip-Off Classic at Lander University on November 14. The Pacers are 2-0 all-time against the Pioneers, winning 70-61 in the teams' first matchup on November 24, 2008.

Tusculum, under second-year head coach Adell Harris (44-18 record), enters the NCAA Tournament having posted a gaudy 17-3 record since mid-December after opening the season with a 4-5 mark. USC Aiken had won 10 straight games, including a 73-72 overtime victory over then-unbeaten and top-ranked Clayton State in the Peach Belt Conference semifinals, before losing to Georgia College in the PBC finals. The Pacers are also making their fourth trip to the NCAA Division II tournament, and second in the last three years.

The Pioneers are led by 4-11 senior guard Jasmine Gunn (Nashville, Tenn.), who was named the SAC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. She averages a conference-best 18.7 points per game and has scored 2,160 career points, three shy of moving into third place on the SAC all-time scoring list. SAC Tournament MVP Catherine Hintz (Hastings, Minn.), a 6-8 senior center, averages 12.0 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds per game and leads the Pioneers with 42 blocked shots.

The Pacers, ranked 12th in the latest USA TODAY/ESPN Division II Top 25 poll, feature a defense which allows an average of 55.2 points per game. Freshman forward Kayla Harris is the team's leading scorer at 12.1 points per game, and was named PBC Rookie of the Year. Hannah DeGraffinreed, a second-team All-PBC honoree, averages 11.7 points and a team-high 5.8 rebounds per contest while shooting 55.7 percent from the field.

Tusculum has posted a 3-5 record this season against teams that earned bids to the NCAA Division II tournament, including two wins over Wingate and one over Lewis, champions of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

The winner of the Tusculum/USC Aiken game will advance to the regional semifinals on Saturday against the winner of the game between No. 2 seed Lander and No. 7 seed Wingate, which received an at-large bid out of the SAC.

Regional host Clayton State, the top seed in the field, will face No. 8 seed Francis Marion and No. 4 seed Georgia College will take on No. 5 seed Barton, the Conference Carolinas tournament champion, in other quarterfinal contests. The regional final will be played Monday night.

2011 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional
Hosted by Clayton State University ▪ Morrow, Ga.
All game times to be announced

Friday, March 11 (Regional Quarterfinals)
No. 1 Clayton State vs. No. 8 Francis Marion
No. 4 Georgia College vs. No. 5 Barton
No. 3 USC Aiken vs. No. 6 Tusculum
No. 2 Lander vs. No. 7 Wingate

Saturday, March 12 (Regional Semifinals)
Clayton State/Francis Marion winner vs. Georgia College/Barton winner
USC Aiken/Tusculum winner vs. Lander/Wingate winner

Monday, March 14 (Regional Final)
Semifinal winners