Lincoln Memorial University senior forward
Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) broke a South Atlantic Conference record that had stood for 16 years and helped the Lady Railsplitters remain undefeated this past week, and has been tabbed as the Holiday Tire Railsplitter of the Week for November 29, it was announced on Tuesday. Harding is the first back-to-back Railsplitter of the Week award winner and becomes the third student-athlete to receive the weekly plaudit twice.
Harding, who was tabbed as the AstroTurf South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week on Monday, recorded her first and second double-double of the season last week to push the Lady Railsplitters to 6-0 on the season and 1-0 in SAC play.
In Tuesday's trip to Carson-Newman, Harding turned in a performance for the ages as Lincoln Memorial outlasted the Eagles 102-99 in overtime, logging 16 points while grabbing a program- and SAC-record 27 rebounds over 40 minutes of action. That broke a 16-year old SAC record held by Newberry's Tiffany Johnson and Robin Cox's 20-year old program record for rebounds in a game. Even more remarkable, it was Harding's second straight 20-rebound performance. She had 21 against King, which was just the third 20-rebound performance in program history.
The Middletown, Ohio native followed that up with a 10-point, 13-rebound outing in a 63-50 win over Lees-McRae on Saturday at Tex Turner Arena. Harding mustered that stat line in just 25 minutes of action, grabbing at least 10 rebounds for the fourth consecutive game.
Through six games, Harding is averaging 8.5 points and 14.2 rebounds per game on 44.8 percent shooting. She currently leads the SAC in rebounding by more than two boards per game as Mars Hill's Aliyah Farmer is second in the league in that category with 12 rebounds per game.
Thanks to Harding's contributions, the Lady Railsplitters are off to their best start since the 1991-92 team opened the season with seven straight wins.
Lincoln Memorial returns to action on Wednesday, November 30 when the Lady Railsplitters welcome the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears to Tex Turner Arena for a SAC clash beginning at 5:30.
