GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - With Madison Floyd and Jennifer Monroe combining for 39 points, No. 16 Anderson University women's basketball clawed back from a fourth-quarter deficit and earned its fifth straight victory to open the season with a 59-56 triumph over Tusculum in South Atlantic Conference action Tuesday evening at Pioneer Arena.
With the victory, the Trojans (5-0, 3-0 SAC) earn their 21st straight regular-season victory and 19th straight win over a SAC opponent in regular-season contests. The Pioneers, who looked for their first win over AU since 2012, dropped to 4-2 for the year with a 2-1 mark in league play.
Floyd and Monroe were responsible for just over 66 percent of Anderson's scoring for the evening, as Floyd paced the Black and Gold with a career-high 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting. The guard headlined her evening with five 3-pointers, which eclipses her previous career-high of four which she posted three times in her collegiate career. Monroe led AU underneath the basket, as she recorded the Trojans' second double-double of the year with 16 points and 10 rebounds. The forward finished 6-for-13 from the floor and was perfect from the free-throw line with a 4-for-4 mark.
Junior guard Heather Jankowy struggled from long range (1-for-8), but handed out a team-high six assists in 37 minutes, leading Anderson to 16 assists for the evening. On the defensive end, Floyd added four steals, setting her new career-high, while Monroe blocked a pair of Tusculum shots. As a team, Anderson out-rebounded the Pioneers, 36-34, with AU claiming 12 offensive rebounds leading to 11 second-chance points. As a team, the visitors shot 40 percent (24-for-60) from the field for the second straight game.
Tusculum was led by guard Shynese Whitener with a game-high 26 points on 10-of-24 shooting, as she played the entire 40 minutes. Whitener paced the Pioneers on both ends of the ball, posting a team-high in assists with three while also swiping a game-high six steals. Center Jasmine Queens added nine points, while forward Kristen McMillion pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
In a back-and-forth contest, Anderson maintained a lead for the majority of the first half, but its largest lead was by just eight points. After AU took a 13-12 lead into the second quarter, the home side inched back into the contest and grabbed a lead with just over a minute remaining until halftime when Queen buried a pair of free throws to push the score to 22-21. In what looked to be Anderson's first opening-half deficit this regular season, Floyd answered with back-to-back 3-pointers and set the halftime score at 27-22.
In the third quarter, Anderson could not find an answer for the hot-shooting TC offense, as the Pioneers closed the third quarter shooting 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) from the floor with Whitener posting 10 points for the 10 minutes. With its offense finding a spark, Tusculum out-scored Anderson, 21-12, for the period and held a 43-39 cushion heading into the fourth quarter. The fourth-quarter deficit mark the first Anderson has faced this season.
The Trojans established their offensive answers quickly in the final period, as Jankowy drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key and followed the trey with a fast-break lay-in to give the lead back to the Black and Gold at 44-43. Anderson continued the scoring streak with a Nakia Young lay-in just before the eight-minute mark and a Floyd fast-break basket to push AU's advantage to 48-43.
Tusculum's first basket of the fourth quarter did not come until the 6:17 mark when Sydney Wilson knocked in a jumper in the lane to snap the visitors' 9-0 run. Despite the Pioneer bucket, the run was enough for the Trojans to maintain their lead for the remainder of the game and seal the victory. Whitener brought the score to 56-53 on her final 3-pointer of the game, but the Pioneers managed just three more points in the final two minutes and saw their comeback bid fall short.
"This was a great road win against a very good Tusculum team," Anderson head coach Jimmy Garrity said. "We showed a lot of grit and toughness, especially in the fourth quarter. I challenged our players at the end of the third quarter and they responded in the fourth quarter by clawing their way back and taking the lead. I have to give them a lot of credit."
Garrity improves his record against Tusculum to a perfect 5-0 mark, as the Trojans have not lost inside Pioneer Arena since the opening round of the SAC Championship in 2011. The win also gives AU nine straight victories against Tusculum in the all-time series. Earlier in the day, the Trojans earned the No. 16 spot in the USA TODAY Sports NCAA Division II Top-25 Poll and the No. 24 slot in the National Media Poll, sponsored by D2SIDA.
Anderson returns to action on Saturday when it hits the road to Newberry for a Palmetto State clash. Tip-off at Eleazer Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m.
