ANDERSON, S.C. - Forcing 28 turnovers and pulling down 50 total rebounds, Anderson University women's basketball captured its ninth straight victory to open the month of February with a 66-50 win over South Atlantic Conference foe Tusculum Wednesday evening at the Abney Athletic Center.

With its ninth win in a row, AU has recorded its longest winning streak since the 2007-08 team posted 20 consecutive victories. The triumph also matches last season's total number of wins, as the Trojans move to 16-3 overall with a 13-2 mark in league play.

Senior guard Sierra Simpson recorded her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds to go along with her three assists and three steals in the victory. Simpson followed the tandem of juniors Madison Floyd and Jasmine Franklin in the scoring column, as Floyd led the team with 13 points, while Franklin added 11. Simpson's team-high 11 rebounds just beat out junior Jennifer Monroe's total of 10, as she has tallied double-figure rebounds in three of her last five games.

As a team, Anderson recorded its lowest shooting percentage since its last setback on Jan. 3 against Catawba, finishing the evening with a 33.8 percent (24-for-71) mark from the floor. The Trojans went just 6-for-28 (21.4 percent) from 3-point range, but the key factor of AU's bench out-scoring Tusculum's bench, 25-9, for the contest proved costly for the visitors.

Defensively, the Trojans forced the most turnovers of any game this season, as the Pioneers turned it over 28 times. The 28 miscues are the most Anderson has taken away in the two seasons of head coach Jimmy Garrity. The AU defense also held TC to 1-of-6 from behind the arc and out-rebounded the Pioneers, 50-38.

"This was a really good win tonight against a scrappy Tusculum team," Garrity said. "I was really proud of our defensive effort by holding Tusculum 19 points below its season average. We did an outstanding job on the offensive boards that gave us second chance points and I thought Sierra Simpson did a great job running our team. I was really proud of her effort on her double-double tonight."

After Tusculum's (5-13, 5-10 SAC) Blakeley Burleson knocked in a corner trey to open the game's scoring, Anderson responded with seven straight points to hand the home side a lead it would not relinquish for the remainder of the evening. The run was highlighted by a 3-pointer from Floyd that was sandwiched between a pair of Franklin baskets to begin and finalize the run.

Floyd made it two-in-a-row from behind the 3-point arc, moments later, from the wing to give Anderson a nine-point lead, while sophomore guard Heather Jankowy followed with a lay-in which handed the Trojans their first double-digit lead of the game, 18-7, at the 13-minute mark.

Following the Jankowy field goal, Tusculum would bring the score within five when Kristen McMillion dropped in a lay-up, sending the score to 20-15. Later, the Pioneers continued to chip into the Anderson lead when Maelyn Cutshaw made 1-of-2 from the line to bring the score to 23-20 with 4:52 remaining.

The three-point deficit would be the closest Tusculum would come for the remainder of the half, as the Pioneers brought the score within three on two more occasions. Seeing its lead shrink, the AU attack proved to be too much, as Anderson out-scored TC 6-2 in the final 1:30 to set the halftime score at 35-28.

Anderson opened the final stanza with an 11-3 run over the first 8:30 of the period, headlined by senior Lesley Woods' first 3-pointer of the game at the 14:41 mark. With Anderson leading 46-31, TC responded with its own run, scoring the next eight points and bringing its deficit to seven at 46-39.

Having not scored in over three minutes, Floyd buried a much-needed 3-pointer from the wing and brought the lead to double figures once again at 49-39. After a TC foul on the opposite end, Jankowy got into the act and knocked down another 3-pointer to give Anderson a comfortable 13-point advantage.

Despite the momentum in the Black and Gold's favor, Tusculum charged back with the next seven points, capped off by a traditional three-point play by Rainey Story with six minutes to go in the contest. As the momentum shifted to the TC side, Anderson bounced back by scoring the next seven points, as Woods closed the run with a 3-pointer at the top of the key to push the score to 59-46 with 3:29 left.

The AU defense held Tusculum to just four points for the remainder of the game and held its double-figure lead until the final horn sounded. The Trojans sealed the contest by shooting 5-for-6 from the foul line in the final 1:30, as freshman Kaylee Koerperich added the exclamation point with a lay-in, which would set the final score at 66-50.

Tusculum was led by Shynese Whitener with 19 points, while McMillion totaled a game-high 15 rebounds, including 10 on the defensive end.

Anderson closes out a three-game homestand on Saturday when it welcomes league-leading Wingate to the Abney Center. Tip-off against the Bulldogs is scheduled for 2 p.m.