HARROGATE, Tenn. -- A balanced scoring attack and timely closing run helped the Lady Railsplitters (5-2) shake off a scrappy Bluefield State (3-4) squad 70-65 in NCAA Division II women's basketball action on Monday night at Tex Turner Arena.
 
Lincoln Memorial shot 50 percent and limited the Blues to a dismal 34.6 percent clip, but the Lady Railsplitters committed a season-high 29 turnovers that provided the Blues with 30 more shot attempts. The visiting unit went 27-for-78 in the contest, while the Lady Railsplitters were 24-for-48. LMU made up for that gap by earning 20 more trips to the charity stripe, posting a 20-for-29 effort at the free throw line to Bluefield State's 6-for-9 mark.
 
Five different players recorded 10 or more points for the Lady Railsplitters. Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) and Kortnay Cox (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) fronted that group as the duo combined for 26 points and 25 rebounds. Pittman notched her third double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Cox posted two new career highs with 13 points and 12 rebounds in 32 minutes of action. Katrina Ottesen (Chandler, Ariz.) knocked down a pair of three-pointers to collect 12 points and five assists. In only 13 minutes, Samantha Satterlee (Junction City, Kan.) turned in 11 points and six boards, while Stephanie Smith (La Vergne, Tenn.) tallied 10 points, six rebounds and five blocks in 16 foul-plagued minutes.
 
The back-and-forth first half was an indicator of how the entire game would ultimately shape up, as neither team established a lead larger than five points. The first 20 minutes featured six ties and six lead changes. A Tenika Jackson trifecta resulted in the final stalemate of the half, tying the contest at 29-29 with 3:06 remaining in the period. But Satterlee scored five unanswered points to help the Lady Railsplitters match their largest lead of the contest at 34-29 by the time the half neared the 1:00 mark. With the Lady Railsplitters threatening to pull away before the break, Shakima Wiggins rolled in back-to-back jumpers, including one at the buzzer to cut LMU's lead to 36-33 at the half.
 
Both teams continued to struggle to get any separation through the early passage of play in the second half. Holding a narrow 43-42 lead, Cox, Kiara Rawls (Killeen, Texas) and Ross Mathis (Greer, S.C.) scored in consecutive possessions to prop the Lady Railsplitters to a 49-44 advantage with 13:09 to play. But Bluefield quickly turned a five point deficit into a four point lead, churning out an 11-2 run over a five and a half minute stretch. The Lady Railsplitters went 1-for-7 over that drought while committing three turnovers.
 
Ottesen stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer, and Satterlee followed with another bucket to push the Lady Railsplitters back in front 56-55 with 6:31 left in regulation. The Blues responded one last time, though, as Charity Harris and Hope Smith put in jumpers and Wiggins knocked down a free throw to propel the visitors back on top 60-56 with five minutes to play.
 
With their backs squarely against the wall, the Lady Railsplitters answered by finishing the contest on a dominant 14-5 run. Lincoln Memorial went 3-for-5 from the field and 7-for-8 from the charity stripe over that stretch, which was paced by Pittman's six points. Over that same span, Bluefield State was saddled with a 2-for-11 mark.
 
Hope Smith paced the Blues with a game-high 17 points on 8-for-21 shooting, while Shakima Wiggins pitched in 13 points on a 5-for-17 effort. Tasia Nolan contributed 12 points while leading Bluefield State with eight rebounds, three blocks and four steals. Tenika Jackson canned three three-pointers to put up 11 points in just 21 minutes of work.
 
The Lady Railsplitters won the battle of the boards 49-33, but Bluefield State afforded themselves 11 second-chance points with 15 offensive boards. The Blues outscored Lincoln Memorial 30-22 in the paint and turned those 29 turnovers into 26 points. The Lady Railsplitters' second unit provided a little bit of reprieve for those self-inflicted wounds by outproducing the Blues' bench 20-11.
 
Monday's meeting was the first between the Lady Railsplitters and Bluefield State in a decade, as the two teams last played on December 30, 2004, a 58-43 win by LMU. 
 
The Lady Railsplitters return to South Atlantic Conference play on Saturday, December 6, hosting the Coker Cobras for a 2 p.m. tip-off at Tex Turner Arena.