HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The short-handed Lady Railsplitters (10-8, 7-5 SAC) put together their most complete performance of the 2014-15 season in a 77-57 triumph over the Catawba Indians (9-8, 6-6 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference women's hoops action on Saturday afternoon at Tex Turner Arena.
 
Lincoln Memorial - who has already been without regular starters Stephanie Smith (La Vergne, Tenn.) and Kortnay Cox (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) for significant time - was without starting guard Katrina Ottesen (Chandler, Ariz.) in Saturday's contest. Instead of using that as an excuse, the Lady Railsplitters let it fuel their fire, leading wire-to-wire in their largest win over Catawba in program history.
 
The Lady Railsplitters turned in a season-high 52.7 percent mark from the field and limited the Indians to just 28.8 percent shooting, the second-worst clip by an LMU opponent this season. The home team dominated the paint all afternoon, outrebounding the Indians 52-33 while logging a 36-18 advantage in points on the paint.
 
The quartet of Aisjah Lee (Louisville, Ky.), Kiara Rawls (Killeen, Texas), Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) combined for 60 of LMU's 77 points. Lee led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Rawls and Coker added 15 points apiece. Rawls followed up her tough shooting night at Mars Hill by going 5-for-10 from the field with three boards. Coker was 7-for-9 with seven rebounds in just 23 minutes of action. Pittman logged her fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) contributed six points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes of work.
 
The Lady Railsplitters committed 11 turnovers in the first half of what was otherwise a nearly perfect half of basketball. The home team went 17-for-33 from the field (51.5 percent) and 4-for-8 from three, while limiting the Indians to a paltry 32.4 percent shooting clip. Lincoln Memorial also doubled up Catawba on the glass, scrapping for eight offensive rebounds which led to 10 second-chance points.
 
Rawls buried a three-pointer on the first possession of the game, Lee knocked down a pair of free throws and Coker sunk a jumper to propel the Lady Railsplitters to an early 9-0 lead, which bulged to 11-0 before Catawba got on the board with a three-pointer at 15:45. The Lady Railsplitters used another run, this time of the 7-0 variety, to increase their advantage to 18-5 on two Pittman free throws at 13:28. The Indians showed some life by racking up 10 unanswered points to trim the deficit to 18-15, but Lincoln Memorial scored nine of the next 10 points, capped by Pittman's second three-pointer of the season, to build the lead back up to 27-16.
 
Catawba continued to hang around, though, using a Terri Rogers jumper at 5:53 to make it a 29-23 game. But the Lady Railsplitters took their largest lead of the half with another 10-0 flurry, finished off by Josey Harding's offensive rebound and put-back layup with 3:26 left in the frame. Bri Johnson and Chloe Bully hit back-to-back jumpers to soften the edge, but Rawls hit the bottom of the net on a 35-footer as time expired to send the Lady Railsplitters into the break with a 42-27 cushion.
 
Bully buried a three-pointer three minutes into the second half to trim LMU's lead to 44-35, but two Rawls free throws and jumpers from Harding and Coker pushed the lead back to 50-35 at 14:31. The Lady Railsplitters continued to push as the half waned on, using back-to-back buckets from Lee to take a commanding 58-40 lead with 12 minutes to play. Coker knocked down a jumper with 9:37 left to retain an 18-point lead, but Catawba scored six unanswered points over the next two and a half minutes to make it a 63-51 game. The Lady Railsplitters immediately countered, though, regaining a 69-51 lead at 5:51 following four straight free throws by Pittman.
 
The Lady Railsplitters wouldn't lead by less than 16 for the remainder of regulation, pushing the cushion to 20 with 2:51 left on a Pittman jumper. Sydnie Anderson (Cleveland, Tenn.) ensured that the final score would show a 20-point gap, as she rolled in the final bucket of the game with 1:23 left.
 
Bully was the lone player for Catawba to reach double figures in the contest, as she scored 13 points on a 5-for-14 mark from the field. Bri Johnson and Serena Brown added nine points apiece. Johnson led the Indians with seven rebounds, while Jada Huntley finished the afternoon with six points, three rebounds, two assists and three steals.
 
The Lady Railsplitters defeated the Indians for the third straight time and took over sole possession of fifth in the South Atlantic Conference standings. Lincoln Memorial and Catawba entered Wednesday's contest tied for fifth in the standings at 6-5.
 
Lincoln Memorial hosts the Brevard Tornados in South Atlantic Conference action on Wednesday, January 28. Tip-off in that contest is set for 6 p.m. at Tex Turner Arena.