HARROGATE, Tenn. -- Hot shooting, a number of lengthy runs and a career night from junior Kortnay Cox (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) led the Lady Railsplitters (7-2, 4-1 SAC) to an 86-76 win over the visiting Newberry Wolves (6-4, 3-2 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action on Monday at Tex Turner Arena. The win was the fourth consecutive for Lincoln Memorial, who defeated the Wolves for the fourth straight time in Harrogate, Tenn., a streak that dates back to the 2011-12 campaign.
 
Cox fronted an ultra-efficient offensive night for the Lady Railsplitters, as the guard/forward combo obliterated her previous career high for points while also resetting her previous benchmark for rebounds, leading all players with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Cox tallied 18 of her 24 points in the first half, as she finished 8-of-12 from the field. Kiara Rawls (Killeen, Texas) was nearly flawless, scoring 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting while dishing out six assists without a turnover. Stephanie Smith (La Vergne, Tenn.) tallied 11 points (all in the second half), grabbed five rebounds and swatted three shots. Katrina Ottesen (Chandler, Az.) and Aisjah Lee (Louisville, Ky.) added nine points apiece. Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) and Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) combined for 12 boards.
 
The Lady Railsplitters finished shooting 50.9 percent from the field, knocking down 28 of their 55 field goal attempts. Lincoln Memorial went 4-for-8 from beyond the three-point arc and 26-for-37 from the charity stripe. LMU's bench outscored the Wolves' second unit 39-14 in the contest, an effort paced by Rawls' 14 points.
 
A couple of extended first-half runs helped the Lady Railsplitters take a 41-36 lead into the break. A Samantha Creed layup and two Zara Pearson free throws gave Newberry the first four points of the contest, but Kortnay Cox scored seven points over a 13-2 run that propelled LMU in front 13-6 by the 15:17 mark of the stanza. The Wolves regained some momentum and eventually tied the contest at 23-23 with two Jaya Schultz free throws at 7:31. The Lady Railsplitters responded by authoring a 10-1 run over the next 4:08 to assume a 33-24 edge. An Aisjah Lee trifecta increased the LMU lead to 41-32, but a Lepaio three-pointer and a Creed freebie cut Newberry's deficit to 41-36 at the half.
 
The Wolves owned the opening minutes of the second half, churning out a 20-6 run over the first 5:23 of the stanza to assume a 56-47 advantage. LMU went just 2-for-5 from the field with three turnovers during that span. The Lady Railsplitters flipped the script over the next six minutes, though, going 6-for-9 from the field to pace a 17-5 rally. Ottesen paced that stretch - which pushed the Lady Railsplitters in front 64-61 by the 8:39 mark - with six points. Two Pearson free throws and a Nicola Handreck three-pointer gave Newberry a 66-64 lead, but LMU used a 14-4 run, capped by a Rawls free throw, over the next 6:28 to bulge in front 78-70 with just over a minute remaining. Another Pearson three cut the Wolves' deficit to 78-73 with 1:03 left, but the Lady Railsplitters went 5-for-6 from the free throw line in the ensuing 30 seconds to pull away. 
 
Newberry's Haylee Lepaio and Samantha Creed combined for 38 points, but needed 37 total shots to hit that figure. Lepaio posted 20 points on 9-of-22 shooting to go alongside a team-leading nine rebounds. Creed, meanwhile, accounted for 18 points on 4-for-15 shooting. Zara Pearson pitched in 15 points in only 13 minutes, while Emily Perry notched nine points in 29 minutes off the bench.
 
The Wolves shot 38.3 percent from the field (23-for-60) with a 6-for-18 mark from three-point range (33.3 percent).
 
The complexion of the contest was altered significantly by the 53 fouls that were whistled, as both teams had to maneuver around foul trouble for the majority of the game. A whopping 11 players finished with three fouls or more, while five topped four fouls on the night. The two teams combined for 68 free throw attempts.
 
The Lady Railsplitters won the battle of the boards 42-31, but Newberry logged a 21-17 advantage on second-chance points. Lincoln Memorial outscored the Wolves 38-26 in the painted area. The Lady Railsplitters assisted on 15 of their 28 buckets.
 
The Lady Railsplitters conclude their five game homestand on Wednesday, December 17, hosting the King Tornado in NCAA Division II action. LMU and King are scheduled to tip at 7 p.m. inside of Tex Turner Arena.