HARROGATE, Tenn. -- In a battle between the two teams tied for fifth in the South Atlantic Conference standings, the Lady Railsplitters (9-8, 6-5 SAC) and surging Catawba Indians (9-7, 6-5 SAC) clash at Tex Turner Arena on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Harrogate, Tenn.
 
Lincoln Memorial is seeking to quickly erase the memory of a heartbreaking 85-84 loss at Mars Hill on Wednesday, their first defeat of the season decided by less than three points. Despite playing arguably their best true road game of the season, shooting almost 45 percent and turning the ball over only 13 times, the Lady Railsplitters watched as the Lions scored the final four points of regulation, including Camille Glymph's two game-winning free throws with 13 seconds left. Lincoln Memorial had a shot at regaining the lead, but Kiara Rawls's (Killeen, Texas) baseline jumper missed the mark. The loss also came in spite of another tremendous performance by Aisjah Lee (Louisville, Ky.), who matched a career-high with 27 points, grabbed a team-leading eight rebounds, swiped six steals and handed out six assists.
 
After a slow start and hitting a mild winter recession, Lee has returned to her All-South Atlantic Conference first team form, which could not have come a moment sooner in the wake of significant injuries in the Lady Railsplitters' front court. The Louisville, Ky., native has been an absolute wrecking ball in her last four appearances, averaging 19.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 4.5 steals per game over that stretch. After failing to score 20 points or more in any of her first 11 games, Lee has accomplished that feat in three of the last four. Lee has shot the rock at over a 50 percent clip during that span, burying 32 of her 60 shot attempts.
 
The Lady Railsplitters have also benefitted from the expansion of minutes allotted to freshman Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.), who has proven herself as a potent knockdown shooting threat. Coker has hit double figures in four of the past six games, and she is an otherworldly 25-for-36 (69.4 percent) over that stretch while mostly attempting mostly mid-range jump shots and three-pointers. Coker enters Saturday's contest having drilled 10 of her last 14 triples. 
 
Catawba arrives at Tex Turner Arena looking to rebound in a different way, as the Indians turned in their worst offensive performance of the season in a 62-47 loss at Wingate on Wednesday, which snapped a three-game winning streak. Catawba finished with a season-low 24.7 field goal percentage, went 4-for-20 from three-point range and fell by 15 points despite attempting 23 more shots than the Bulldogs. Prior to Wednesday's loss, though, the Indians had won four of its last five games, including a 74-60 victory at second-place Anderson.
 
Much of the Indians' recent success can be attributed to the return of leading scorer, sophomore Jada Huntley, who sat out the first nine games of the season. Since returning to the lineup in that win over Anderson on January 3, Huntley has put up double figures in all but one of her six appearances. Huntley is averaging 13.3 points, 12.7 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game over that span.
 
Huntley is one of four players averaging 10 points or more per game for the Indians. Chloe Bully is scoring 13.1 points and dishing out 2.8 assists per game, while Bri Johnson is putting up 12.5 points and grabbing five rebounds per appearance. Terri Rogers is nearly averaging a double-double with 10.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
 
The Indians are scoring 67.9 points per game on 38.7 percent shooting from the field and a 27.7 percent mark from three-point range, ranking 11th out of 12 teams in the South Atlantic Conference in three-point efficiency. Catawba is one of the better rebounding teams in the league, pulling down 44.1 rebounds per contest and outrebounding its opponents by an average of 4.9 boards each game.
 
The Lady Railsplitters are vying for their third straight win over Catawba, who owns a 10-6 advantage in the all-time series. Lincoln Memorial swept the regular-season series for the first time in program history in 2013-14, winning a 72-71 overtime thriller in Salisbury, N.C. before concluding the regular season with a 71-62 win in Harrogate. In last season's meeting at Tex Turner, Katrina Ottesen (Chandler, Ariz.) fronted the Lady Railsplitters' attack with a career-high 18 points on 4-of-8 shooting from deep.
 
The Lady Railsplitters and Indians are scheduled to get underway on Saturday at 2 p.m. inside of Tex Turner Arena. Live stats and an HD video broadcast will be available via www.LMURailsplitters.com, while fans can also listen along with Voice of the Railsplitters Rusty Peace at WLMU 91.3 the Gap. Pre-game coverage begins at 1:40.

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