Nequoiah Anderson scored a career-high 25 points and Tusculum College held Mars Hill University to one field goal in the final eight minutes in an 85-78 victory Thursday night at Stanford Arena in South Atlantic Conference Women's basketball action.

Maelyn Cutshaw added 18 points and Shynese Whitener had 16 points and a career-high six steals as all five starters reached double figures for the Pioneers (3-14, 3-10 SAC), who picked up their second straight road victory by limiting the Lions (4-13, 3-10 SAC) to 28 second-half points after Mars Hill led 50-44 at halftime.

Kristen McMillion earned her fifth double-double of the season with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, 12 of which came in the second half. Blakeley Burleson was the fifth player to reach double figures for Tusculum as she had 12 points and six rebounds.

Mars Hill also put five players in double figures, as Ansley Ricker led the way with 18 points and Cadence Wilmoth added 13 points. After shooting nearly 59 percent from the field as a team in the first half, the Lions cooled off to 27.6 percent (8-for-29) in the second half, including 0-for-7 from three-point range after going 5-for-9 in the first half.

Anderson surpassed her previous career high of 20 points set on four previous occasions, including three times this year. She connected on a career-best 10 free throws in 13 attempts and came up one shy of her career high in rebounds with six.

Cutshaw hit 8-for-14 from the field and has scored in double figures three times this season -- all Tusculum wins. She played all 40 minutes and had three assists and three steals to go along with three rebounds. Whitener also went the distance and hit 7-for-8 from the foul line on her way to reaching double figures for the fifth straight game and seventh time in eight contests.

Mars Hill led by 12 points twice late in the first half, but an 8-0 Tusculum run to start the second half gave the Pioneers a 52-50 lead following a steal and layup by Cutshaw with 17:32 remaining. The Lions regained the lead and held a 72-67 advantage after Brittany Baker hit two free throws with 7:47 left. However, Cutshaw hit a layup off an inbounds pass and Anderson drilled a three-pointer to tie the game at 72-72 with 6:29 remaining.

A three-point play by Wilmoth gave the Lions their final lead of the game at 75-72 with 5:39 to go, but the Pioneers closed the game on a 13-3 run to come away with the victory. Anderson hit two free throws with 3:42 remaining to bring the Pioneers within one, and a steal and layup from McMillion put the Pioneers ahead for good just seconds later. A jumper from Burleson extended the Tusculum lead to 78-75 with 3:28 to go and Whitener converted a three-point play with 2:59 left for a six-point Pioneer advantage.

Meanwhile, the Lions were held without a field goal following the Wilmoth basket, as they missed their six field-goal attempts and committed four turnovers during the decisive Tusculum run. Mars Hill's only points came on three free throws by Katie Stevens, one with 2:47 left that cut the Pioneer lead to five and the other two with nine seconds left that set the final score.

Ricker led the Lions with 16 points in the first half to help the Lions to a six-point lead at the break. The Pioneers shot 48.4 percent (15-for-31) in the opening 20 minutes, and received 13 points from Anderson, 11 from Whitener and 10 from Cutshaw in the half.

Mars Hill finished the game with a 45-42 advantage on the boards over Tusculum, but committed 24 turnovers that the Pioneers turned into 27 points. Mars Hill's bench finished with a dominating 34-3 edge over the Tusculum reserves, partly due to double-figure efforts from Wilmoth, Baker (11 points) and Genice Lane (10 points) and partly due to Tusculum using just two subs for a total of 18 minutes.

Overall, Tusculum went 24-for-33 at the foul line (72.7 percent), including 16-for-20 in the second half, while the Lions shot 70.8 percent (17-for-24) but just 12-for-19 after intermission. The Pioneers also matched their season high with 16 steals and hit seven three-pointers to extend their streak of consecutive games with a three-pointer to 77.

Tusculum will be home for three consecutive games starting Saturday at 2 p.m. against Queens. The Pioneers dropped a 77-75 decision to the Royals on the road on Nov. 7 in Charlotte.