Box Score LEXINGTON, Ky. â€" Despite a rocky start to the second half, the Pioneers pulled away from Mount St. Joseph to move one step closer to securing the HCAC No.1 seed in a 106-67 victory Wednesday night. Leading the Pioneers was sophomore guard Katelyn Smith who tallied 24 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and a block.

"We did a great job on the offensive end tonight. We shot 51 percent from the field and 46 percent from the perimeter," Head Coach Greg Todd noted after tonight's game.

The game started very slow with hard fouls and tie-ups for possession that ultimately played into Mount St. Joseph's favor. With Mount forcing their style of play on his team, Coach Todd needed a spark off of the bench to open the game and speed up his opponent.

This player he was looking for was freshman guard Jordin Fender who provided the energy and jump the team needed. Fender's most pivotal points came off of a fight for possession on the baseline that ended with her scoring an easy back door layup. Fender finished the night playing only 18 minutes but scoring 16 points with four rebounds, two assists, and zero turnovers.

Following that basket Mount St. Joseph called timeout and the Pioneers never looked back. These points seemed to ignite the perimeter shooting and soon thereafter the Pioneers had sank three almost back-to-back-to-back 3 pointers with a jump shot in between. This perimeter game enabled the Pioneers to go into the locker room leading 59-31 at the half.

"We had a tough time stopping Tara Dennis tonight, she had an awesome game with 29 points and 13 rebounds," Coach Todd remarked.

The second half started very slow defensively but after a few stops the lead had grown insurmountable for Mount and all the momentum had shifted in Transylvania's favor. Soon after these stops and baskets the Beck Center erupted with applause and screaming from a packed Crimson Crazy section as the Pioneers surpassed the 100 point barrier with 5:45 left in the game.

After this mark was met Mount called a timeout and Coach Todd pulled his starters to allow other players more playing time. The Pioneers scored a few more baskets and finished out the game to win 106-67.

Joining Fender and Smith in double figures for scoring were senior guard Madisen Webb, junior guard Nicole Coffman, and sophomore forward Alex Botkin. Webb finished the night with 13 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. Coffman finished with 23 points, seven boards, three assists, and a block. Botkin added 12 points, eight rebounds, two assists, a game-high three steals, and a block.

Also joining these Pioneers was junior forward Alex McKenzie who grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds with six points, a steal and an assist.

The Pioneers are in action again this Saturday, Feb.y 8th when they travel to Anderson.