MARS HILL, N.C. --- The Tusculum University women's basketball team used a 13-0 run to start the second half as the Pioneers recorded its first win of the year with a 71-63 South Atlantic Conference victory over Mars Hill University Wednesday afternoon at Stanford Arena.
Tusculum (1-8, 1-4 SAC) snaps a 10-game losing streak dating back to last year, while Mars Hill falls to 4-7 overall and 1-4 in the league.
Freshman guard Martina Garofalo led the Pioneers with her first career double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds, while rookie Julia Szwichtenberg scored 13 points and added six boards. Maddison Neal and Josie Horner came off the bench with a pair of 11-point performances, while Dora Van Rijs had a game-high 12 rebounds as TU posted its first win since a 73-51 triumph at Newberry College on Feb. 22, 2025.
The Pioneers led 36-33 at halftime and opened the third quarter scoring the first 13 points of the period to take a 49-33 lead following an Ema Nagyova jumper with 4:31 on the clock. MHU's Shyann McCummings snapped the scoring drought with her bucket with 2:54 left in the quarter.
TU took its largest lead of the day at 53-36 as junior Artasia Cole converted a layup with 2:30 remaining in the third.
Mars Hill answered scoring the final seven points of the quarter as the Lions trailed 53-43 heading into the fourth.
MHU's Kamryn Sainvil made it a 9-0 run with her opening layup as the Lions trimmed the 17-point deficit down to single digits at 53-45.
Garofalo would snap the TU scoring drought with her layup with 8:02 remaining to extend the lead back to double figures at 55-45.
Both teams would hit an offensive slump as the two combined for four points over the next three minutes as the Pioneers led 57-47 with 5:20 on the clock.
Mars Hill would score five in a row including a layup by Makayla Street as the Lions trailed 57-52 with 4:34 left. Van Rijs responded with a made basket to stop the MHU run, but the Lions would counter with a Kindan Dawson layup as Mars Hill trailed 59-54 and called a timeout with 3:41 on the scoreboard.
Both teams would trade baskets back-and-forth over the next two minutes as TU led 65-60 with 1:57 remaining. MHU would miss a three-pointer as the loose ball was on the court in a pile of players as TU graduate student Abbi Douglas dove in to tie up the ball as the Pioneers came away with the possession with 1:03 to go.
Tusculum used the opportunity as Josie Horner hit a key layup with 39.6 seconds left to extend the lead to 67-60. Mars Hill would be forced to foul as Nagyova and Douglas each went 1-for-2 on their trips to the free throw line as Tusculum led 69-60 with 17.4 seconds left to put the game out of reach.
The Pioneers out-rebounded MHU by a 53-39 margin including 18 offensive boards resulting into 20 second-chance points for the visitors. TU finished the game shooting 38 percent (24-of-64), including 6-of-11 in the final quarter (55%). The Pioneers totaled 15 assists on its 24 made field goals including four helpers by Van Rijs and three assists apiece by Gomez and Garofalo.
Street and Dawson led the Lions in scoring with 11 points each, while Stella McIntyre and McCummings tallied eight markers apiece.
Tusculum ended the contest shooting 16-of-24 from the free throw line while MHU went 8-of-10 from the charity stripe for the afternoon.
The Pioneers will be on the road on Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. contest at USC Aiken.
