Lady Railsplitters Win Third Straight

Box Score

HARROGATE, TN - On Monday afternoon, the Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team won its third straight game including its second consecutive conference victory with a 66-55 win over South Atlantic Conference opponent Wingate University.

With the exception of trailing 2-0 on Wingate's Kurie Washington's jumper with 19:22 to play in the first half, the Lady Railsplitters led the remaining 39:38 on a run that was started by sophomore guard Amberly O'Dell's 3-pointer at the 17:54 mark.  From that point, LMU dominated the game in nearly every aspect by opening up a 10-point lead in the first half and taking an 8-point advantage into the locker room.

The Lady Railsplitter defensive effort against the Bulldogs in the first half was a season best as well.  LMU limited Wingate to only 14 first half points and a dismal 16.1% shooting from the field while holding the WU women scoreless behind the arc over the first 20 minutes of play.

The second half saw the Lady Railsplitters open up a 16-point lead with 17:11 to go.  Wingate made several runs throughout the second half but the LMU women held a double digit lead through the majority of the game before eventually coming away with their 11-point margin of victory.

Although she was somewhat under the weather, sophomore guard Dayshalee Salaman led LMU in scoring with 16 points.  Guard/forward Carolyn Mills chipped in 13 points off the bench, most of which came at the stripe.  Mills finished the night a perfect 9-9 at the line with six of those points coming down the stretch.  Also in double figures for LMU were guards Amberly O'Dell and Destiny Williams.  O'Dell was 4-6 behind the arc for 12 points while Williams fought for 11 points.  Junior forward Blandine Kikwiki Mamuku finished the game one point shy of a double-double.  Kikwiki-Mamuku scored nine points and had a game-high 11 rebounds.

Wingate was paced by Kurie Washington's game-high 19 points.  Teammate CC Brooks also came off the bench for the Bulldogs to put in 18 points, while Louticia Logan led the WU women on the boards with seven rebounds.

The Bulldogs fall to 11-9 overall and 4-5 in the South Atlantic Conference while the Lady Railsplitters move to 7-12 and 4-5 in league play.  LMU will host the Pioneers of Tusculum College Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m. in the Tex Turner Arena. 

Which fall sport are you looking forward to the most?