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SALISBURY, N.C. --- Tusculum College went on a 19-0 run in the first seven minutes, shot a season-best 56 percent from the field and rolled to a 76-60 victory at Catawba College in a South Atlantic Conference women's basketball game from Goodman Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.

 Kendal Baxter drilled six three-pointers and scored a game-high 20 points for the Pioneers (16-8, 10-6 SAC), who snapped a three-game losing streak and defeated the Indians (16-8, 11-5 SAC) for the 12th straight time.

 The loss dropped Catawba into a three-way tie atop the SAC standings with Lenoir-Rhyne and Wingate at 11-5, with Tusculum a game back at 10-6. The Pioneers, who are the defending conference regular-season and tournament champions, host Lenoir-Rhyne and Mars Hill next week to close out their regular-season schedule.

 The Pioneers placed four players in double figures, as Linda Aughburns posted a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, Alishia Mosley scored 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting off the bench and Ashley Thurman dropped home a career-best 10 points in 14 minutes.

 Tusculum went 17-for-27 (63 percent) from the field, including 7-for-12 from three-point range, in the first half en route to a 23-point halftime lead. The Pioneers finished the game shooting a season-best 56.3 percent (27-for-48) and went 9-for-17 from three-point range.

 Catawba was led by Dana Hicks, who finished with 18 points, a team-high seven rebounds and a game-best six steals. As a team, the Indians shot 33.8 percent (23-for-68) and lost the rebound battle to Tusculum by a 39-31 margin.

 "I'm very happy we got off to a great start. Our kids were ready and played with a high level of confidence," said Pioneer head coach Adell Harris. "When you've lost three games in a row, you don't recognize how good it's going. I never looked at the score, but I knew we were making shots. On defense, we denied the wing and disrupted their rhythm."

 Baxter, the Pioneers' leading scorer at 14.4 points per game entering Saturday's action, had scored a total of 23 points during Tusculum's three-game losing streak. However, she came out firing on Saturday, hitting back-to-back three-pointers in the opening two minutes.

 Her second three gave Tusculum a 6-4 lead and kickstarted a 19-0 run that saw the Pioneers sprint to a 22-4 lead following a three-pointer by April McCann just seven minutes into the first half.

 Despite being held scoreless for nearly seven minutes later in the half, Tusculum only saw its lead diminish from 33-8 to 33-18. A layup by Thurman with 2:51 left in the first half broke the drought and helped the Pioneers end the first half on an 11-3 run to go to intermission with a 44-21 lead.

 Baxter led all players with 14 points in the first half, while Dana Hicks led the way for the Indians with eight points on 4-for-6 shooting in the opening 20 minutes.

 Two free throws by Dana Hicks allowed Catawba to trim the margin to 19 at 44-25 with 17:40 remaining, but Tusculum responded with a 13-2 run to take its biggest lead of the day at 57-27 following a jumper by Mosley with 14:38 to go. The Pioneers led 71-42 with 6:10 to play, only to see the Indians close the game on an 18-5 run.

 Staci Hicks just missed a double-double for the Pioneers, finishing with nine points and 10 rebounds, and McCann added nine points, seven rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes. Jama Hammontree returned to the starting lineup for the Pioneers after missing three games with facial injuries suffered in a collision against Brevard two weeks ago, and went scoreless in 17 minutes.

 The Pioneers will host SAC co-leader Lenoir-Rhyne Wednesday night at 6 p.m. at Pioneer Arena to open the final week of the regular season. Tusculum defeated Lenoir-Rhyne 68-65 in the teams' first meeting on January 25 in Hickory, N.C.