MARS HILL, N.C. -- Camille Glymph buried two free throws with 13 seconds left and the Lady Railsplitters' (9-8, 6-5 SAC) last-ditch effort fell short in a heartbreaking 85-84 loss to the Mars Hill Lions (6-10, 4-7 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference women's hoops action on Wednesday evening at Stanford Arena.
 
After a rollercoaster first half, neither Lincoln Memorial nor Mars Hill established a lead larger than six points in the second stanza. In a game that featured 12 ties and 10 lead changes, the second half alone saw six stalemates.
 
A Kelsey Espinosa free throw knotted the contest at 60 apiece with 9:49 left, and LMU took control of the contest from there, as Katrina Ottesen (Chandler, Ariz.) drained a three-pointer and Aisjah Lee (Louisville, Ky.) got a steal and a fast-break layup to make it a 65-60 game. Ottesen drilled another three-pointer at the eight-minute mark to give the Lady Railsplitters the largest lead for either team of the half, a 68-62 edge. The Lions battled back, though, as Espinosa scored five unanswered points to tie the game at 74-74 with 4:48 left. The Lady Railsplitters scored six of the next eight points - capped with a Kiara Rawls (Killeen, Texas) bucket - to reassume control at 80-76.
 
The Lions answered by scoring five straight points, regaining an 81-80 edge on two Espinosa free throws, but Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) and Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored on back-to-back possessions to give the Lady Railsplitters an 84-81 cushion with 40 ticks left. The ensuing passage of play saw Katie Stevens cut the deficit to one with a layup, the Lady Railsplitters miss the front end of a 1-and-1 and Camille Glymph coolly drain two clutch free throws to put the Lions back in front 85-84 with 13 seconds left. Lincoln Memorial had a chance in its final possession to come away with the victory, but Rawls' baseline jumper went begging. Mars Hill missed two free throws in the last possession, but the Lady Railsplitters were unable to get off a viable shot attempts before time expired.
 
Mars Hill's late rally offset another brilliant performance by Aisjah Lee, who matched a career-high with 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting, grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, collected six steals and dished out five assists. Lee topped the 20-point threshold for the third time in the past four games. Freshman Shea Coker had a big night for the Lady Railsplitters as well, pouring in 17 points and pulling down six rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. Kiara Rawls struggled from the field, cashing in just six of her 20 field goal attempts, but contributed 16 points and three boards in 40 minutes. Megan Pittman was limited to only 24 minutes due to foul trouble, but she tallied seven points and seven rebounds over that span.
 
A dreadfully slow start - that put the Lady Railsplitters in a 13-point, first-half hole - eventually gave way to a monster closing flurry that erased every bit of the deficit. Paige Chavis scored seven of the first 11 Mars Hill points, including a three-pointer at the 16:21 mark that propelled the Lions to an early 11-4 advantage. It was then Nicole Marshall that took over the reins of the Lions' offense, scoring five of the team's next seven points to build the lead to 18-8 with 12:35 left in the stanza. Two Lakeisha Beasley (College Park, Ga.) free throws decreased the deficit eight, but Chavis rolled in a layup and buried another three in the next two possessions to give the Lions a commanding 25-12 lead at 10:19.
 
A Victoria Leroy triple helped the Lions retain a 13-point edge as the clock ticked under the eight-minute mark, but the Lady Railsplitters would completely own the remainder of the half. Over a less than two-minute stretch, Lincoln Memorial ripped off a 10-2 run, capped by a Coker trey at 6:19, to make it a 30-25 game. Glymph briefly stemmed the tide with a three-pointer, but Coker and Lee scored five unanswered points to trim the deficit to 33-30 at 4:46. The Lions regained an eight-point cushion less than a minute later, but LMU scored 11 of the next 13 points to assume a 41-40 lead with 1:42 left. Glymph buried another three to give the Lions a 45-41 lead before Coker and Britney Guy (Locust Grove, Ga.) scored on the Lady Railsplitters' last two possessions to even the score at 45-45 at the half. 
 
The Lady Railsplitters finished shooting 44.8 percent from the floor (30-for-67), 50 percent from the three (6-for-12) and 72 percent from the charity stripe (18-for-25). The visiting unit logged a 42-36 advantage on the glass and matched a season-low with 13 turnovers. The Lady Railsplitters also accumulated a 38-34 edge on points in the paint as well as a 26-16 bench scoring advantage.
 
Paige Chavis led the Lions with 24 points, bolstered by a 9-for-12 mark at the free throw line. Kelsey Espinosa spun in 20 points and went 12-for-13 at the charity stipe. The duo of Chavis and Espinosa combined for 20 of the team's 36 rebounds. Camille Glymph logged 19 points, including the two game-winning free throws at the end of regulation. Those were her lone free throw attempts of the contest. Nicole Marshall contributed 11 points off of the Lions' bench.
 
The Lions went 26-for-33 at the free throw line, the most free throw attempts made by an LMU opponent this season. The Lady Railsplitters were whistled for 23 fould in the contest.
 
In defeat, the Lady Railsplitters fell to 1-5 in true road games this season. The loss also snapped a brief two-game winning streak.
 
Lincoln Memorial hosts Catawba in South Atlantic Conference action on Saturday, January 24. Tip-off in that contest is slated for 2 p.m.