Lady Splitters get stingy in 100-67 win over Tennessee Wesleyan

Published 5:23 pm Thursday, February 15, 2018

HARROGATE, Tenn. — The LMU women’s basketball led from wire to wire and committed a program-fewest four turnovers as they defeated Tennessee Wesleyan 100-67 Tuesday evening in the Tex Turner Arena.

LMU (14-10) never trailed in the contest, which was the first time the two teams have met since the 1990 season. They shot 48.9 percent for the game and held the Bulldogs to 47.4 percent shooting. From three-point range, they hit 41.7 percent while TWU shot 32.3 percent from behind the arc.

LMU out-rebounded the Bulldogs 47-35, which they converted into 27 second chance points, and had 27 points off of 22 TWU turnovers. The Lady Railsplitters had 13 steals off those turnovers while only having four turnovers of their own. The four turnovers are the fewest in program history.

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Rachel Griffith tied her career-high with 18 points to lead LMU. The junior shot 4-of-5 from three-point range and had five rebounds as well. Jordan Brightwell continued the hot shooting streak she has had the past few games as she went 8-12 from the field for a career-high 16 points. She also had seven rebounds.

Emily Griffith flirted with the program’s first quadruple-double as she had 13 points, six rebounds, six assists and eight steals. The eight steals tied the school record for steals in a game. Shea Coker chipped in 11 points for LMU.

Hannah Troutt led Tennessee Wesleyan with 13 points, while Kenzie Conn had 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Kaitlin Simon also chipped in 10 points.

Rachel Griffith put LMU on the board at the 7:04 mark with a driving layup, and she scored again with a put back shot to give LMU the 4-0 lead. TWU would later make a run to cut the lead to 9-7, but the Lady Railsplitters would go ahead by six and hold that margin for the rest of the quarter before a jumper by Troutt with three seconds left cut the lead to 21-17.

The Lady Railsplitters then opened up the second quarter with a 13-2 run and the Bulldogs were never able to cut the lead to less than 13 for the rest of the half.

The third quarter was much of the same as LMU extended the lead to as much as 28 before taking a 78-53 lead into the fourth period.

Tennessee Wesleyan hit a layup early in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 23, but LMU’s defensive pressure and rebounding helped the Lady Railsplitters pull out to a 33 point lead as they coasted to the 100-67 win.

Up Next

LMU will hit the road for the final time in the regular season as they travel to Coker for a 2 p.m. Saturday SAC contest against the Cobras. LMU won the earlier meeting in Harrogate 75-59 on Jan. 6.