Photo by Phil Gentry Vanessa Luciana of the Lady Pioneers goes up for a shot against an LMU defender during Thursday night action at Tusculum.

Cold-Shooting Lady Pioneers Fall To Lady Splitters, 62-43 By: By JOE BYRD/Sports Writer Source: The Greeneville Sun Cold shooting continues to plague Tusculum. The Lady Pioneers hit less than one in three of their shots Thursday night at home against Lincoln Memorial, giving way in a 62-43 reversal. Only one of the Lady Pioneers managed double figures. A.J. Johnson canned three from beyond the arc and finished the night with 11 points. Tusculum led early, but really failed to take advantage of a truly poor shooting effort by LMU. The Lady Splitters opened the game by shooting a dismal seven percent. If, in that time, Tusculum could have put some distance between themselves and the visitors, the game would have had a very different flow. “We have to play harder, that’s it,” said Tusculum coach Suzanne McBride. “We’re backstepping. We have to make adjustments. If we don’t, we’re in trouble. We are going to figure out a way somehow. We’re going to do it. We had a group that went in late and fought hard until the end. We need that kind of effort from the start every game.”

The loss drops the Lady Pioneers to 1-6 on the year. They have been in every contest, and could realistically be 6-1.

The biggest problem seems to be that the shots just aren’t falling. Defensively, teams are finding a slight crack in Tusculum’s post game, but on the offensive end of the floor, the Lady Pioneers are getting looks at the basket. The shots just won’t fall through the cylinder.

All-South Atlantic Conference senior Julie Maples scored only three points Thursday night. But, McBride and the Lady Pioneers know they can’t rely on one person every night. Everyone on the team needs to step up and put some points on the board.

As a team, Tusculum shot only 31.3 percent for the game (15-of-48). After the Lady Railsplitters’ sorry start where they hit only one of their first 13 shots, things picked up, and they finished the game by shooting 39.3 percent (22-of-56).

A bright spot for Tusculum was newcomer Vanessa Luciania, who made her first appearance of the season with eight points that helped keep Tusculum in the lead until late in the first half when LMU went on a run and seized the lead for good.

Amber Redding led Tusculum under the basket with eight rebounds. Candice Foster had four steals.

LMU’s Mareme Konate led the game with 13 points. Jamie Jackson scored 10 for the Lady Railsplitters (4-2).

Tusculum is at home again on Tuesday for their last home date before the holiday break. The Lady Pioneers host Lees-McRae at 6 p.m.