GREENWOOD, S.C. -- The second season of the Krystal Evans era begins this weekend when the Lady Railsplitters travel to Greenwood, S.C. to face Lander and USC Aiken in the South Atlantic Conference vs. Peach Belt Conference Challenge. Lincoln Memorial officially opens the 2015-16 season against the Bearcats at 7 p.m. on Friday night before turning around to face the Pacers at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Both of those games will be hosted at Horne Arena on the Lander University campus.
 
In her first season at the helm of the Lincoln Memorial women's basketball program, Evans led the Lady Railsplitters to a 14-15 record and a sixth-place finish in the SAC standings in spite of a plethora of injuries that completely destroyed the team's depth. Despite returning seven of their top nine in terms of minutes played from last season's squad, the Lady Railsplitters were selected to regress and finish seventh in the SAC preseason poll.
 
{2015-16 season preview}
 
The Lady Railsplitters will be led by preseason All-SAC second team selection Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.), who averaged 10 points and 8.4 rebounds per game on 44.6 percent shooting last season. Kiara Rawls (Killeen, Texas) is also back after accounting for 9.9 points and 3.4 assists per game. 2014-15 SAC All-Freshman team guard Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) bolsters Lincoln Memorial's core of experienced returning talent, as she scored 7.9 points per game on a 47.3 percent mark from three-point range. Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) is back for her junior season after putting up 6.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in 29 appearances last season.
 
The Lady Railsplitters draw arguably their toughest nonconference opponent of the season in Friday's lidlifter, as Lander was picked to finish second in the loaded Peach Belt Conference after going 23-7 last year and booking a trip to the NCAA tournament.
 
The Bearcats, who boasted the nation's fifth-highest scoring offense last season by averaging 79.7 points per game, return their top three scorers in Ty'Hesha Reynolds, Breshay Johnson and Bre Crumm. Preseason All-PBC selection Reynolds averaged 12.5 points and 4.1 assists per game last season while Johnson put up 12.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game on 54 percent shooting. Crumm ranked third on the team in scoring with 11.4 points while adding 4.3 rebounds per game on 45.7 percent shooting.
 
Lander thrives by converting pressure defense into offense. Last season, the Bearcats led the nation in turnover margin with a plus 9.0 advantage in the turnover battle thanks in large part to their 12.9 steals per game, which ranked third in the nation.
 
LMU is 1-2 all-time against Lander, but opened the 2014-15 campaign with a 76-72 victory over the Bearcats. The Lady Railsplitters trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half before rallying all the way back to take the lead late in the second half. Rawls led Lincoln Memorial to victory with her best performance of the season, notching 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting and eight assists. Reynolds tallied nine points, five assists and two steals for the Bearcats.
 
It doesn't get any easier for the Lady Railsplitters on Saturday against USC Aiken, but the Pacers present an entirely different dynamic than their PBC counterparts. USC Aiken was selected to finish third in the PBC preseason poll after compiling an 18-12 record last season despite losing two key players to season-ending injuries.
 
The Pacers were below average offensively, accounting for 62.6 points per game on a 38.1 percent shooting clip, but they were an elite defensive squad, ranking 18th in the country by limiting opponents to just 35.7 percent shooting.
 
Reigning PBC Freshman of the Year Emry Tsitouris is expected to lead the Pacers into the 2015-16 campaign, as she averaged 11.5 points per game on 46.1 percent shooting while corralling 9.0 rebounds per appearance last season. The Pacers also get a boost with the return of senior Mariah Durian, who averaged 11 points per game despite missing 16 games due to injury.
 
The Pacers' veteran-heavy roster features five seniors and five juniors.
 
The Lady Railsplitters are also 1-2 all-time against USC Aiken, but the two teams met for the first time since 1991 in the second game of the PBC vs. SAC Challenge last season. Lincoln Memorial led that contest 38-31 at the half before the Pacers rallied for a 77-70 win, outscoring the Lady Railsplitters 46-32 in the second stanza. Rawls had a team-high 17 points in that contest to go along with five assists, but also committed eight turnovers. Dunn went 11-for-11 from the free throw line and led the Pacers with 19 points.
 
With the NCAA women's game set to make the transition from two 20-minute halves to four 10-minute quarters this season, Lincoln Memorial will be playing its first four-quarter game since they faced Knoxville Business College on February 21, 1942. That gap equates to nearly 74 years and 26,929 total days.
 
The Lady Railsplitters are 12-3 in season openers since the turn of the century.
 
Live stats and video links for both of this weekend's game will be available at www.LMURailsplitters.com.

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Friday vs. Lander at 7 p.m. - Live stats | Video 
Saturday vs. USC Aiken at 1 p.m. - Live stats | Video