GREENEVILLE, TENN. – Sophomore guard Diana Neves scored a career-high 26 points and senior guard Brooke Underwood made six consecutive free throws in the final minute as Tusculum College held off Francis Marion University for a 71-61 win, Thursday afternoon (Dec. 14) in non-conference women’s basketball action.

Neves surpassed her previous high of 22 points set in Tusculum’s last game while coming off the Pioneers’ bench. She connected on 10 of 17 shots, including 6-of-11 attempts from beyond the three-point arc.

Junior guard Brittany Young led Francis Marion (3-6) with 17 points, a career-high nine rebounds, and six assists. Junior Renee Guilliams added 10 points.

Young scored FMU’s opening seven points as the Patriots led 7-2 after three minutes. The Pioneers quickly tied the score with five straight points. A 14-4 spurt by Tusculum (8-1) late in the first half left the Patriots facing a 29-18 deficit. The Pioneers led 33-24 at halftime.

The margin was five points (38-33) when Neves fueled a 13-2 Tusculum run with a pair of three-pointers as the Pioneers took a 51-35 lead with 9:56 remaining in the game. Trailing 54-38 with 8:43 left, Francis Marion slowly starting chipping away at the Tusculum lead.

A three-pointer by Guilliams with 3:48 left closed the gap to six points at 58-52. Nineteen seconds later, a free throw by freshman Yasmean Dixon capped a 15-4 run by the Patriots that cut the Tusculum lead to 58-53.

However, that would be as close as FMU would get. Although a three-pointer by freshman Chelsea Quinlan did get FMU to within six points (67-61) with 25 ticks left, Underwood’s work from the charity stripe doused any hopes of a Francis Marion comeback.

Francis Marion plays its final game of the 2006 calendar year on Saturday when the Patriots face unbeaten Newberry College (9-0) at 4 p.m. in Newberry.