GREENWOOD, S.C. -- Southeast Region Player of the Year Jasmine Gunn poured in 21 points and Kendal Baxter knocked down four 3-pointers to lead the Tusculum College women's basketball team to a 69-63 come-from-behind win over 19th-ranked Clayton State University in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Friday afternoon.

The eight-team regional is being held at Finis Horne Arena on the campus of Lander University.

With the upset win over the second-seeded Lakers (24-7), the Pioneers (21-9, No. 7 seed in regional) advance to today's semifinal and will face No. 20 Francis Marion at 5 p.m. The third-seeded Patriots eliminated No. 6 seed Newberry, 103-96 in Friday's opening contest.

Gunn, a 4-11 junior guard from Nashville, led all scorers with 21 points, shooting 6-of-11 of from the floor, while Baxter recorded 14 points on the afternoon. Jasmine Parker and Catherine Hintz joined Gunn and Baxter in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively, as Parker and Kat Spears each pulled down a game-high eight rebounds in the victory.

CSU's Tanisha Woodward poured in 15 points, including 13 in the opening half. Breanna Fort recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Lesheria Stevens added 10 markers as the season ends for the defending Southeast Regional Champions.

Clayton State led the entire opening half and would take its largest lead of the game at 33-20 at the 4:13 mark, thanks to an 11-4 run. Tusculum would answer with a 10-6 spurt to cut the lead to 39-30 heading into the locker room. Brittni Oliver posted four markers and six assists, while Baxter canned a trey during the run.

The Lakers, who entered the game second in the nation in steals per game, forced Tusculum into 14 turnovers in the opening period, converting those miscues into 10 points.

Clayton State would move its lead back out to double digits at 43-32 with 18:05 left in the game. The Pioneers responded with a seven straight points by Gunn as the South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year led TC to within four (43-39) with 16:12 remaining.

The Lakers answered with an 11-3 spurt to lead by 10 again (52-42) with 11 minutes remaining following a jumper by Genesis Kelly.

The Pioneers launched a furious 13-2 run over the next five minutes to take their first lead of the game at 55-54 with 6:03 left on the clock.

CSU would score back-to-back buckets by Woodward and Fort as the Lakers led 59-58 with 4:10 to go. Tusculum made its biggest push of the afternoon as Gunn accounted for five points in a 7-0 TC run, including a steal and a three-point play as Tusculum charged out to a 65-59 lead with 1:52 left.

The Lakers cut the TC lead to four after a pair of Fort free throws with 52 seconds remaining, but the Pioneers limited CSU to only one made field goal in the final four minutes of the game to record its first ever win over Clayton State and avenge a regional semifinal loss to the Lakers in last year's NCAA Tournament.

Tusculum finished the game shooting 52.3 percent from the floor, including 13-of-24 in the second half (54.2%). The Lakers missed their nine of its last 10 shots to shoot 37.5 percent from the floor on the afternoon.

With her 21-point effort, Gunn passes former All-SAC standout Ashli Oliver for fifth place on the program's all-time scoring list (1,527).

Tusculum, who is making its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance, will be playing in the Southeast Regional semifinal for a second straight season.

Saturday's contest with Francis Marion will be the second time the Pioneers and Patriots have met on the hardwood this season. FMU defeated Tusculum 83-71 on Dec. 17 in the OrthoCarolina Classic in Wingate, N.C. The all-time series between two teams is tied at 1-1.