Hicks shot 8-of-12 from the field as she records her second straight 20-point outing (21 points in Saturday's win at No. 7 Indianapolis). Senior guard Jasmine Gunn, the reigning South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week, posted 17 points and three steals, while junior Linda Aughburns finished with six points and a game-high 10 rebounds as the Pioneers (3-3) record their third consecutive victory.
King (1-7) was paced by Ashley Dean's 19 points and seven rebounds as she was the lone Tornado player to score in double digits.
Tusculum forced 27 King turnovers on the night, converting those miscues into 28 points.
The first half was a back-and-forth contest that saw five lead changes with Tusculum taking a 29-25 lead into the locker room.
The Pioneers took its first double-digit lead of the night at 42-32 following a bucket by Gunn with 12:53 remaining in the game. King cut the deficit back to seven at 44-37 after a basket by Brooke Johnson at the 9:31 mark of the period.
Senior center Catherine Hintz tallied two of her six points with her lay-up with 8:45 left and Aughburns followed with another basket as Tusculum moved its lead to 11 (48-37) with eight minutes left on the clock.
Tusculum led 50-41, but Mikki Oliver buried a three-pointer to bring the Tornado to within six (50-44) with 5:50 remaining. But the Pioneers closed out the game with a 14-2 run, including a three-point play by Hicks as TC recorded its sixth straight win over King.
Gunn went 9-of-13 from the charity stripe to give her 535 career made free throws, moving her into sole possession of second place, surpassing former TC All-American Susan Starnes (527, 1993-97). Gunn needs 21 more free throws for the all-time record held by Amy Bible (1992-96).
Tusculum sophomore Kendal Baxter was held scoreless for the first time in her 38-game career, including no three-point field goals, ending a remarkable streak of 35 consecutive games (Nov. 27, 2009 to present).
King won the shooting battle (43%-42%) for the game, but Tusculum fired 12-of-24 in the second half, while also winning the battle of the glass by a 39-34 margin, including 15-5 on the offensive glass as Tusculum tallied 10 second-chance points.
The Pioneers will open South Atlantic Conference play on Saturday as they travel to Newberry College for a 4 p.m. contest in a rematch of last year's SAC Tournament championship game. It will be Tusculum's seventh straight road game to open the season. TC and King will meet in a rematch next Wednesday in Greeneville in the Pioneers' home opener.
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