HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The short-handed Lady Railsplitters (7-6, 4-3 SAC) rallied in the second half but ultimately fell short in an 82-78 loss to the Anderson Trojans (8-3, 5-2 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference women's hoops action at Tex Turner Arena on Wednesday evening. Lincoln Memorial's season-long losing streak was pushed to four, as Anderson defeated the Lady Railsplitters for the second straight time in Harrogate.
 
In the absence of starters Kortnay Cox (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and Stephanie Smith (La Vergne, Tenn.), the Lady Railsplitters turned to a number of unusual suspects to lead the offense. Three days removed from posting double figures for the first time in her career, freshman Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) obliterated her previous career-high with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Coker added six rebounds in 26 minutes of action. Katrina Ottesen (Chandler, Az.) pitched in 13 points and Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) filled out the stat sheet with 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Along with Coker, senior Ashley Pritchett (Decatur, Ga.) reset her career-high with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Aisjah Lee (Louisville, Ky.) and Kiara Rawls (Killeen, Texas) chipped in nine and eight points, respectively.
 
The Lady Railsplitters were just 18-for-46 from inside of the three-point arc for the game, but they kept themselves within striking distance by knocking down eight of their 15 three-point attempts and 18 of their 22 tries at the charity stripe. All told, the Lady Railsplitters shot 42.6 percent in the contest. The home unit committed 21 turnovers which were converted into 22 points by the Trojans. LMU was bested on the boards 41-36, and the Trojans also mustered a 36-24 advantage on points in the paint.  
 
A 10-0 Anderson run made almost all the difference in the first frame. After Shea Coker buried a three-pointer to close the gap to 12-10 at the 12:28 mark, the Trojans scored 10 unanswered points to bulge their lead to 22-10 by the third media timeout of the half. The Lady Railsplitters went 0-for-6 with three turnovers over that span, while Anderson went 5-for-9. The home unit regained some stability in the closing minutes of the half, as an Ashley Pritchett jumper pulled LMU to within eight points at 26-18 with 5:16 remaining. Another bucket by Coker kept the deficit at eight with three minutes showing on the clock, but back-to-back treys from Lesley Woods and a Jennifer Monroe layup extended the Trojans' advantage to 41-29. A Kiara Rawls free throw made it 41-30 in Anderson's favor at the break.
 
Lee opened the second half with a bucket to trim LMU's deficit to nine, but the Trojans ripped off a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to assume their largest lead of the contest at 50-32. While the game was on the verge of slipping away from the Lady Railsplitters completely, two huge second-half runs kept the Blue and Gray alive.
 
The Lady Railsplitters' first run came over a five-minute stretch (16:42-11:43), as LMU went 5-for-5 from the field and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe over that span to pace a 13-4 flurry. That passage of play closed the gap to 54-45, but Anderson countered with seven unanswered points to extend the cushion to 61-45. The Lady Railsplitters followed that up with an even bigger run, though, outscoring the Trojans 15-3 over the next four minutes to make it 66-62. Six different players scored for the Lady Railsplitters over that span, a group led by Coker's six points.
 
With only four minutes remaining at the end of that run, the Trojans reasserted control with a Sierra Simpson jumper, an Alexis Dillard three-point play and a layup from Jasmine Franklin. That extended the Trojans' lead to 73-62 with just 2:03 left, but a 12-3 LMU run, punctuated by an Ottesen trey, cut the deficit to 76-74 with 45 seconds left. Four Anderson free throws made it 80-74, but the Lady Railsplitters drained four free throws of their own to pull within two points again with just five seconds left. However, the Trojans were able to in-bounds the ball successfully and Nakia Young hit both of her free throws to end the contest in Anderson's favor.
 
Anderson finished the contest shooting 49.2 percent, knocking down 31 of their 63 shot attempts. Lesley Woods led the Trojans with 15 points, going 5-for-9 from three-point range. Alexis Dillard scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Nakia Young sparked the Trojans off the bench with 11 points and five rebounds.
 
The Lady Railsplitters return to action on Saturday, January 10, traveling to Wingate, N.C. for a South Atlantic Conference clash against the Wingate Bulldogs. Tip-off in that contest is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Cuddy Arena.