HARROGATE, Tenn. -- Aiming for the program's longest winning streak since the 2006-07 campaign, the Lady Railsplitters (7-2) conclude the 2014 home schedule with a nonconference tilt against the King Tornado (4-4) on Wednesday, December 17 at Tex Turner Arena. Tip-off in that contest is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
Lincoln Memorial's lengthy homestand has gone about as well as planned as the Lady Railsplitters have racked up four consecutive wins with a comfortable 12 point margin of victory in those contests. With a win on Wednesday, the Lady Railsplitters would reach their first winning streak of five or more games since the 2006-07 squad posted five straight from November 21-December 9.
 
The Lady Railsplitters extended that winning streak to four with a signature South Atlantic Conference victory on Monday, an 86-76 triumph over the Newberry Wolves.  Lincoln Memorial shot 50.9 percent and limited the visiting unit to just 38.3 percent shooting. Points in the paint and bench scoring made the difference, as LMU accumulated a 38-26 advantage in the painted area, while the Lady Railsplitters' bench outscored the Wolves' second unit 39-14.
 
Junior Kortnay Cox (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) continued to thrive for the Lady Railsplitters, as she turned in the best game of her career in the Blue and Gray. Cox led all players with 24 points and 13 rebounds, both of which were new career highs for the Murfreesboro, Tenn. native. Cox has scored 10 points or more in three straight games, shooting the rock at a 17-for-27 rate over that stretch. Junior Kiara Rawls (Killeen, Texas) also looks to be back on track, as she tallied 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting versus Newberry for her first double-digit performance since November 25. Rawls fell just shy of that mark with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting against Coker on December 6.
 
The Tornado take to the Tex Turner Arena floor looking to halt a two-game losing skid. King dropped a 61-48 decision at Carson-Newman on Monday, as they knocked down only 17 field goals on 54 attempts (31.5 percent). The Lady Railsplitters and Tornado share one common opponent in Mars Hill. The Lady Railsplitters defeated the Lions in an offensive shootout 100-90, while King throttled Mars Hill 74-58 in the season opener.
 
King is scoring 61.1 points per game and limited its opponents to 58.6. The Tornado are shooting it at a 37.7 percent rate from the field and a 31.2 percent clip from three-point territory. Turnovers and rebounding has been an issue for the Tornado, who average 16.6 miscues per game with only 40.6 rebounds over that same span. The Lady Railsplitters are pulling in a SAC leading 53.6 rebounds per game.
 
Tia Keitt, Arnelle Collins and Chelsea Bowling are pacing the Tornado with 9.9, 9.9 and 9.3 points per game, respectively. Keitt leads King with 27 total assists. Bonnie Durrett is the Tornado's double-double threat as she is averaging 8.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. No other King player is contributing more than six points per game.
 
The Lady Railsplitters own a commanding 21-2 advantage in the all-time series, but the two teams have not squared off since the 2011-12 season. Lincoln Memorial has won the previous five match-ups, including an 80-52 win on December 10, 2011 in Bristol, Tenn. The Lady Railsplitters' last loss to the Tornado in Tex Turner Arena was way back on November 18, 2009.
 
Tip-off between Lincoln Memorial and King is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday night. Live stats and an HD video broadcast will be available at www.LMURailsplitters.com, while fans can also listen along to the game with Voice of the Railsplitters Rusty Peace at WLMU 91.3 the Gap. Pre-game coverage begins at 6:45.

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