HARROGATE, Tenn. — The Lincoln Memorial University women’s basketball team rode a third quarter surge to roar back from an eight-point halftime deficit. The Lady Railsplitters held off a late run by Anderson to claim their eighth win of the season with the 71-68 South Atlantic Conference win over the Trojans Wednesday evening.

LMU (8-5, 4-3 SAC) scored the first two points of the game, but then saw Anderson (9-5, 3-3 SAC) go on a 12-3 run and grab a seven-point lead. That lead would hover around seven points until baskets by Maggie Jachimczuk and Jordan Brightwell cut the lead to 19-16 after one quarter.

The Trojans would use a 6-0 run to extend the lead to nine mid-way through the second quarter. The rest of the half was a back-and-forth affair as both teams traded quick baskets. Anderson, however, was able to extend the lead to eight points and held a 40-32 advantage at the halftime break.

One of the hallmarks of the Lady Railsplitter squad the past few games has been a strong start to the third quarter, and this game was no exception as they scored five quick points off a layup by DuBose and a 3-pointer by Coker in the first thirty seconds of the period, forcing an Anderson timeout.

The LMU run continued after the timeout, eventually ending up as an 11-2 start by the Blue and Gray that gave them a 43-42 lead with 8:12 remaining in the third. AU would take a 44-43 lead before LMU surged ahead again to extend the lead to seven by the end of the quarter.

The Trojans methodically chipped away at the lead as time was counting down in the fourth quarter, eventually cutting the lead to 64-62 with 3:36 left in the game. Ross Mathis then buried a 3-pointer to stop the Trojan run.

Anderson again cut the lead to two, 70-68, with 23 seconds left. LMU called timeout to advance the ball and AU was forced to foul to stop the clock. Emily Griffith then hit one of two to put the LMU lead back at three.

Alexy Mollenhauer missed what would have been a game-tying three as she was being pressured by Emily Griffith and threw up an air ball that was rebounded by LMU. AU then fouled again to stop the clock.

LMU missed both free throws and AU rebounded the ball, but Madison Baggett’s shot bounced off the rim and the Lady Railsplitters picked up the 71-68 win.

LMU was led by Emily Griffith and Shea Coker, who had 16 points each. Ross Mathis chipped in 12 points while Jordan Brightwell had a career-high seven rebounds to lead the team. As a team, LMU shot 27-68 (39.7 percent) from the field, 5-15 (33.3 percent) from three-point range and 12-22 (54.5 percent) from the free-throw line.

Anderson went 24-51 (47.1 percent) from the field, 5-15 (33.3 percent) from behind the arc and 15-22 (68.2 percent) from the charity stripe. They were led by Erika Martin’s 12 points and eight rebounds. Mollenhauer also chipped in 11 points.

The Lady Railsplitters held a slight advantage (13-10) in points in the paint and in bench points (29-28). Both team had 28 points each from their bench while LMU was out-rebounded for only the third time this season as the Trojans pulled down 40 rebounds to LMU’s 35 for the contest.

Up Next

The Lady Railsplitters will host Coker in SAC action on Saturday before going on a three-game SAC road swing over the next two weeks. Coker comes to the Turner Arena with a 6-6 overall record and a 3-3 record in SAC play. They are riding a three-game win streak with wins over Mars Hill, Queens, and Newberry.