GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Shynese Whitener matched a career-high with her 30-point performance in leading the Tusculum College women's basketball team to a 63-52 South Atlantic Conference victory over Lenoir-Rhyne University Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.
The Pioneers (6-2, 4-1 SAC) are off to their best league start since opening 4-1 in the 2009-2010 campaign when Tusculum swept the SAC regular season and tournament titles.
Whitener, the league's top scorer (21.8 ppg), recorded her fifth consecutive 20-point game, becoming the first TC player to accomplish the feat since All-American Jasmine Gunn during the 2009-2010 season.
Whitener shot 13-of-26 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from three-point territory. The Newton, North Carolina senior also posted six rebounds, while dishing out five assists and posted a career-high two blocked shots.
Kristen McMillion had a solid outing posting a season-high 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 at the free throw line. McMillion added a team-high eight rebounds and posted two blocked shots for the SAC's leader in that category.
TC's Sydney Wilson finished with seven points and four assists, while Kasey Johnson and Indya Kinard accounted for four points each.
Lenoir-Rhyne's Brooke Robinson tallied a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Jordan Hiatt added 11 points, while Jasmine Stafford recorded six points in the loss.
Tusculum jumped out to a 19-11 advantage after the opening quarter thanks to a 10-2 run to start the game as Whitener made her first four shots for her eight points in the frame.
In the second quarter, the Bears (2-6, 1-3 SAC) score nine unanswered points to cut the deficit to 21-20 following a Robinson layup. McMillion made a pair of free throws and Whitener buried a jumper to push the advantage back out to five (25-20) with 5:08 remaining before halftime.
LR's Jordan Hiatt drained a three-pointer followed by a Robinson jumper in the paint as the Bears tied the game at 25-25 with 51 seconds remaining in the period.
But an Atajah Watson layup and a pull-up three-pointer from Whitener lifted the Pioneers to a 30-25 lead at halftime.
The Pioneers opened the second half with six straight points and pushed the lead to 47-32 after three quarters of play. Tusculum was never threatened in the final quarter pushing its advantage to as many as 19 points (51-32) before posting the 11-point victory.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 49 percent, including 15-of-28 in the second half (53.6) and out-rebounded Lenoir-Rhyne by a 38-37 margin, though the Bears owned a 19-10 advantage on the offensive boards.
The Pioneers will close out the pre-Christmas portion of its schedule as they travel to Hartsville, South Carolina on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tipoff at Coker College.
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