HARROGATE, Tenn. -- Aisjah Lee (Louisville, Ky.) nearly recorded a triple-double and the Lady Railsplitters (9-7, 6-4 SAC) turned in a stifling defensive effort in a 64-44 victory over the Queens Royals in South Atlantic Conference women's hoops action on Saturday afternoon at Tex Turner Arena.
 
Lee led all players with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting with a perfect 3-for-3 mark from three-point range. She finished just shy of a triple-double with seven steals - tying the Tex Turner Arena record - and grabbing six rebounds. Behind Lee's tremendous individual defensive effort, the Lady Railsplitters tallied 11 steals, limited Queens to just 39.1 percent shooting (18-for-46) and converted 24 turnovers into 23 points.
 
Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) poured in 11 points and corralled six rebounds in just 15 minutes off of the bench, while Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) fell a tad shy of a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds. Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) also scored eight points while chipping in seven rebounds (six offensive boards) in 30 minutes of work.
 
The Lady Railsplitters shot 41.3 percent from the floor and 66.7 percent from the three. Lincoln Memorial outmuscled the Royals in the paint all afternoon, mustering a 40-27 rebounding advantage as well as a 32-24 edge on points in the paint.
 
The first half was a particularly dominant defensive one for the Lady Railsplitters, who limited Queens to a mere 13 points on a dismal 6-for-21 effort from the field, tying the Tex Turner Arena record for the fewest first-half points by an opponent, an undesirable distinction previously set by Benedict on November 15, 2003. That defensive effort helped erase an otherwise pedestrian offensive half for the home team. Lincoln Memorial went just 11-for-29 (37.9 percent) through the first 20 minutes of action, knocking down two of its four three-point attempts.
 
Queens didn't get its first bucket until Abby Pettit broke a nearly seven-minute scoring drought with a layup at the 13:18 mark, however, the Lady Railsplitters went without a basket until just two and half minutes before. Leading 4-2, Lincoln Memorial scored seven unanswered points - capped with a trey by Aisjah Lee at 10:25 - to build an 11-2 cushion. The Royals cut the deficit to five by the eight-minute mark, but an 8-0 run over the ensuing 3:32 pushed the Lady Railsplitters out to a 19-6 advantage. Queens finally broke into double figures on an Erin Brundage jumper at 2:42, but LMU scored eight of the last 11 points of the half, punctuated by an Ashley Pritchett (Decatur, Ga.) three as time expired, to take a 27-13 lead into the break.
 
McKell Oliverio gave the Royals the first basket of the second half, but the Lady Railsplitters capped a 9-3 run on a Coker jumper at 14:26 to extend the lead to 36-18. Queens dominated the next passage of play, though, using a 17-9 flurry over an eight-minute stretch - capped with a Nikki Gleason jumper at 6:42 - to cut the deficit to 45-35. The Lady Railsplitters were their own worst enemy during that span, going 3-for-12 from the field with seven turnovers.
 
The Lady Railsplitters turned it around with a pair of baskets for Coker sandwiched around an Aisjah Lee three-pointer, pushing the home team's lead back to 17 at the 4:32 mark. But Queens responded by scoring seven unanswered points to make it a 52-42 game with 3:08 left.
 
Lee officially put the game away in the next two possessions, though, securing back-to-back transition layups to bolster the Lady Railsplitters' advantage to 56-42 with 2:25 remaining. The Lady Railsplitters would close the contest on a 7-0 run to conclude only their second 20-point win of the season.
 
It was a struggle for most of the afternoon for the visiting Royals, but Lacey Singletary was a force inside, scoring 15 points, blocking seven shots and dishing out five assists. She was the only player for Queens to surpass the 10-point threshold. Nikki Gleason added nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.
 
The Lady Railsplitters improved to 8-2 all-time against Queens with the win, sweeping the regular-season series for the second consecutive season. Lincoln Memorial captured its seventh straight victory over the Royals, a streak dating back to January 21, 1995.
 
Aiming for their third consecutive win, the Lady Railsplitters travel to Mars Hill, N.C. on Wednesday, January 21 to square off against the Mars Hill Lions in South Atlantic Conference action. That contest is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m.