Catawba Women Spoil Salaman's Record-Setting Performance With 88-85 Win

Dayshalee Salaman's 44 points vs. Catawba are a new LMU and South Atlantic Conference record.

Box Score

SALISBURY, NC -- The Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team came up short in the end as Catawba came from behind to grab the 88-85 win over the Lady Railsplitters in South Atlantic Conference action Wednesday evening in Goodman Gym.

The loss comes in spite of a 44 point performance from sophomore guard Dayshalee Salaman (Carolina, Puerto Rico), who came off the bench to post a new LMU and South Atlantic Conference single-game scoring record.  Salaman's 44 points surpasses the old LMU record of 39, held by All-Americans Terry Whitehead (vs. Lee - Feb. 10, 1986) and Debbie Green (at Tusculum - Feb. 17, 1990).  The old SAC record was 42, set by Mars Hill's Sonia Gahagan in a game versus Presbyterian on Feb. 10, 1992.

The first half saw Catawba spurt out to a 30-15 lead off a jumper by Dana Hicks (York, SC) with 7:59 to go.  The Lady Railsplitters then mounted a 21-9 run cut the Catawba lead to 39-36 at the half.

LMU kept chipping away and finally claimed the lead with a lay-up by Salaman with 12:19 to go.  The lead see-sawed through six ties and seven lead changes for the next few minutes. The Lady Railsplitters held a four point 85-81 lead with less than a minute to go but a combination of Catawba's pressure and clutch shooting from Milica Ivanovic (Belgrade, Serbia) enabled the Catawba Indians to squeak out the 88-85 win.

LMU (4-12, 2-5 SAC) was led by Salaman's 44 points.  Carolyn Mills (Nashville, TN) added in 19 points and Amberly O'Dell (Argos, IN) scored 15.  Cena Nasiloski (Hammond, IN) led LMU on the boards with 10 rebounds.

The Lady Railsplitters shot 52.7 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the charity stripe.  They also hit a blistering 60 percent from three-point range for the contest.  

Catawba (11-6, 4-2 SAC) was led by Ivanovic's 28 points. Hicks and Nisha Long (Dallas, NC) each scored 20 points. Hicks also led all players on the boards with 16 rebounds.

Catawba won with rebounding battle 43-33.

The Lady Railsplitters will look to regroup on Saturday when Mars Hill comes to town for a SAC tilt.  Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. in the Turner Arena.

Which fall sport are you looking forward to the most?