Tusculum's Lady Pioneers had a plan all season long -- to peak at just the right time.

Now is the time, and the team is playing its best basketball of the year as the Lady Pioneers head into this weekend's NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament.

Adell Harris couldn't have scripted a better season in her first year as a head coach. The Lady Pioneers had some ups and downs at the start of the year, began to play really well in the mid-season and hit full stride in winning Tusculum's first-ever South Atlantic Conference Tournament championship this past Sunday.

"I think it was a natural progression," Harris said. "Early on we were teaching. What's my style? What am I asking them to do? I think it took a while for them to understand that and trust it. Then we got to a point where we trust and understand it, so let's do it every time. That took a while. We took some steps forward, some steps back.

"I think now we are really getting it at the right time. I think any coach in the country wants to be peaking at the beginning of March."

Tusculum is led into Friday's regional quarterfinal matchup with Clayton State by junior All-American Jasmine Gunn.

Gunn, the South Atlantic Conference and Southeast Region Player of the Year, averages 20.7 points per game. She averages 5.5 rebounds per game and has 144 assists and 86 steals this season.

It's not just Gunn that's playing well. The entire team is coming into its own, especially over the last three games which included upsets of No. 1-seed Lenoir-Rhyne and No. 2 Newberry in the conference tournament.

"I think we are in a great position. When I look at our team I think that is the best we've played," Harris said. "Some individual performances were the best I've seen. Catherine Hintz in the first half of the Catawba game was the best I've ever seen her play. Kendal Baxter in the last two games, especially the conference championship, is the best I've ever seen her shoot the ball. The way she shot it with confidence is scary. A lot of people are getting better, and I think as a group we are peaking at the right time."

The Southeast Regional, hosted by Lander University in Greenwood, S.C., has Tusculum as the No. 7 seed and Clayton State, who won the Peach Belt Conference Tournament, the No. 2 seed.

It will be the second time this year the two have met. In December, Clayton State defeated Tusculum by eight in overtime. Harris said neither Hintz nor Gunn played well in the game, contributing to the loss.

She figures this time it will be different.

"Overall, Clayton State is a very athletic team," Harris said. "They will press you the whole game and do different things to disrupt you offensively. We have to take care of the ball and defend them. They have some very talented one-on-one basketball players. We have to keep them in the half court offensively and not let them get easy steals to score. We can't allow them to go on big runs. The main thing is to just take care of the basketball."

Tusculum (20-9) is one of four South Atlantic Conference teams in the Southeast Regional, joining Lenoir-Rhyne, Carson-Newman and Newberry. Rounding out the field are Lander, Anderson and Francis Marion.

The Lady Pioneers are 4-6 this season against the other teams. All four of the wins have come in the last month, playing right into Tusculum's plan to be peaking at the right time.

Are the Lady Pioneers capable of winning the regional tournament this weekend and pushing on to the Elite 8?

"Yes we are. That is the plan," Harris said. "We are not talking about losing games. We are talking about winning it. We are focusing on winning two games, getting to the Monday game and see what happens."

Tusculum's first round game with Clayton State (23-6) is Friday at 2:30 p.m. The winner meets the winner of No. 3 Francis Marion vs. No. 6 Newberry in the semifinals on Saturday.