GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (12-5, 9-2 South Atlantic Conference) women's basketball team defeated the Tusculum Pioneers (1-14, 1-10 South Atlantic Conference) by a score of 88-72 at Pioneer Arena on Wednesday evening.

Carson-Newman sophomore Jai Jai McLaughlin (Knoxville, Tenn.) recorded the program's first triple-double this century with 14 rebounds, 10 points, and a Carson-Newman Division II era record 13 assists.

"Jai Jai always works hard and it's no surprise that she's able to accomplish even what she did tonight," said Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey. "That's because she doesn't take practices or days off. Especially in the second half I thought she saved us. And to get a triple-double as a point guard is great, her assist-to-turnover ratio was incredible. Jai Jai is a champion, she hates to lose, and as I told the team I'm so glad she's on our team, I'm so glad she's only a sophomore so we get to have her for two more years."

"I owe it all to my teammates on the assists because they were hitting shots," McLaughlin said. "I didn't even know I had a triple-double, I was kind of wondering at the end why the coach still had me in while all the other starters were out, but I'm glad he let me stay in there to get that point. It was great."

The Bearden High School alum McLaughlin's historic night was the first triple-double in the SAC or the Southeast Region this season, and the eighth overall in NCAA Division II women's basketball in 2013-14. McLaughlin also came close to a quadruple-double, as she had a career-high six steals in the contest.

While McLaughlin stole the show with her triple-double, freshman Kaitlyn Cupples (Clinton, Tenn.) scored a career-high 19 points and had a double-double of her own with 11 rebounds. Sophomore Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) scored 18 points and hit five 3-pointers, senior Chante' Markus (Hummelstown, Pa.) scored in double-figures for the 12th time this season with 14 points, and junior Jassmine Franklin (Lexington, Ky.) added 11 points in the Carson-Newman victory.

After the first few minutes of the game were back-and-forth, Carson-Newman took off with a pair of large runs midway through the first half. Carson-Newman grew its lead from 7-6 to 13-6 with a 6-0 run culminating in a Cupples layup with 13:12 left in the first half.

The Pioneers cut the lead to 15-11 with 11:57 remaining in the half, and from there Carson-Newman would be in control the rest of the game. Carson-Newman responded with an 11-0 run, fueled by baskets from Franklin, Cupples, and finally a Lacy Miller 3-pointer that gave the Lady Eagles a 26-11 lead with 8:21 remaining in the first half.

At the half the Lady Eagles led 44-27, with C-N shooting 53 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, and the Lady Eagles scored 28 of their 44 points in the paint, largely due to the work of Cupples and Franklin.

Carson-Newman came out of the locker room firing early in the second half with an 11-0 run to grow the lead to 54-32 with 17:50 to play. From there, Carson-Newman's lead never went below 15 points as the game shifted its attention to McLaughlin's run at history.

McLaughlin got her 10th point at the free throw line with 20 seconds left in the contest, capping a record-setting performance by the sophomore.

The win guarantees that Carson-Newman will remain in first place in the SAC standings going into Saturday's game with Newberry, as the Lady Eagles are a league-best 9-2 in conference play.

Tusculum was led by the 17 points of Shynese Whitener, and the SAC's top rebounder Kristen McMillion led TC with 12 rebounds.

Carson-Newman will next play at home on Saturday, welcoming Newberry to Holt Fieldhouse at 2 p.m.

Saturday's game will be carried on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station WPFT-FM 106.3 FM, with coverage beginning at 1:45 p.m. with "The Countdown to Tipoff," and live video is also available on www.cneagles.com.