GREENEVILLE, TENN. – Tusculum (3-3, 1-0 SAC) erased a 16-point third quarter deficit to hand Anderson (6-1, 0-1 SAC) its first loss of the season, defeating the Trojans, 76-69, on Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.

"We have been harping on this for quite some time now that our defense has to improve and that we were constantly letting teams score too easy and too often," said head coach Johnathon Barbaree. "We have only been lucky that our offense has been scoring enough to cover that. So, the question is what will we do if we have an off-night shooting? We would need to step up our defensive game and in the fourth quarter especially, we did not do that tonight."

After leading most of the contest by double-digits, the Trojans did not relinquish the lead until the 4:47 mark in the fourth period of action, 66-64. Anderson was able to tie the game twice when sophomore Ashlyn Sheridan hit a short jumper at 4:21. After a quick Pioneer basket, graduate Brittney Stafford hit a jumper with 3:43 remaining to give the Trojans its final tie, 68-68. Tusculum outscored the Black and Gold, 8-1, over the final 3:30 plus minutes, 24-9, is the final stanza to claim the, 76-69, victory.

Anderson junior Diamond McDowell recorded her fourth double-double of the season scoring a team-high 17 points and pulling in 14 rebounds. Stafford netted 15 points and dished out four assists, while senior Nelliah Wilson dropped in 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to record her second double-double of the season. Senior Zamiya Passmore chipped in 10 points, chased down five rebounds and handed out six assists.

Tusculum placed two players in double-figure scoring with Ni'Kiah Chesterfield tying the game-high scoring with 17 points.

For the game, the Trojans and Pioneers combined for 2-of-27 from behind the arc with the Pioneers hitting the only two three-point baskets.

Anderson returns to the friendly confines of the Abney Athletic Center on Saturday to welcome nonconference opponent Belmont Abbey. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 pm.