BANNER ELK, N.C. -- There was little to no fourth-quarter drama for the Lady Railsplitters on Wednesday night in Banner Elk, N.C.
 
Lincoln Memorial (1-2) opened on a 10-0 run and outscored the Lees-McRae Bobcats (0-3) 19-5 in the first quarter to pace a 75-54 victory and pick up their first win of the 2015-16 campaign. The Lady Railsplitters' 21-point triumph helped momentarily wipe away the memory of back-to-back losses at this buzzer to Lander and USC Aiken this past weekend.
 
Four different players hit double figures for the Lady Railsplitters, led by Kiara Rawls's (Killeen, Texas) 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting in 23 minutes off the bench. Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) and Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) each recorded double-doubles in the contest, as Harding hung up 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Pittman tallied 11 points and 11 rebounds to help Lincoln Memorial outrebound the undersized Bobcats 57-26. Britney Guy (Locust Grove, Ga.) had 10 points in 17 minutes off of the bench, accounting for both of the Lady Railsplitters' three-pointers in the game. Blake Lamb (Bean Station, Tenn.) had eight points on 4-of-7 shooting in her first career appearance in the Blue and Gray.
 
The Lady Railsplitters shot 42.3 percent (30-for-71) from the field, 16.7 percent (2-for-12) from three-point range and 59.1 percent (13-for-22) at the charity stripe. But they earned the victory on the defensive end where they limited Lees-McRae to a 19-for-52 effort (36.5 percent), forced 18 turnovers and allowed just nine offensive rebounds. Lincoln Memorial accumulated a 44-22 edge on points in the paint and a massive 21-5 disparity on second-chance points, as they corralled a season-high 27 offensive boards.
 
Lincoln Memorial was especially dominant in the first period, holding the Bobcats to 1-for-10 shooting with only five points. The Lady Railsplitters established a 10-0 lead after Sydnie Anderson (Cleveland, Tenn.) buried a couple of free throws at the 6:07 mark before Lees-McRae got its first bucket of the game on a jumper by Caitlin Brown with 5:47 left to play in the quarter. The Bobcats would go without a field goal for the remainder of the period, making three free throws over that span, while a three-pointer by Guy put the Lady Railsplitters in front 19-5 at the end of one.
 
A layup from Rawls extended LMU's lead to 21-5 early in the second stanza, but the Bobcats would whittle the lead down to six at 23-17 on basket by Brown with 5:03 remaining in the half. Lamb would then score three consecutive baskets to kick-start a 12-2 LMU run that gave the Lady Railsplitters a 35-19 advantage. Markia Stacey drained a three with five seconds left in the second to cut the Lady Railsplitters' lead to 35-22 at the half.
 
LMU's lead held at 13 after Brea Forbes bounced in a layup with 4:33 to play in the third, but the Lady Railsplitters made five free throws to push back out to a 44-26 advantage by the 3:04 mark. The visiting team would carry a 51-34 cushion into the fourth period following Guy's bucket with 25 seconds left in the third stanza.
 
The Bobcats opened the fourth period on a 12-6 run, capped by a Breana Hardnett three-pointer at 6:41, to trim the Lady Railsplitters' lead to 57-46. But Lincoln Memorial avoided another fourth-quarter letdown, which was a key element of the two heartbreaking losses last weekend, by responding with a 9-0 run to extend the lead to 66-46 with 3:56 to play. The Lady Railsplitters never led by less than 20 points after that, pulling ahead by as many as 27 points before the Bobcats finished the game on a 6-0 spurt.
 
Stacey led the Bobcats in scoring with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting. She was the only Lees-McRae player to finish in double figures, as Hardnett had nine points and Brown contributed seven points. Alexis Ammons paced the Bobcats with eight rebounds.
 
Quick Hits
The Lady Railsplitters' 27 offensive rebounds were their most in almost a full calendar year - they grabbed 34 offensive boards against Queens on November 22, 2014...Lincoln Memorial has assisted on at least half of their field goals in every game this season, including 17 on 30 field goals against Lees-McRae...12 of the 15 players to appear for the Lady Railsplitters registered at least two points...the Lady Railsplitters improved to 9-3 all-time against Lees-McRae and 3-3 in Banner Elk, N.C. - it was Lincoln Memorial's first trip to Lees-McRae since 2008
 
Up Next
The Lady Railsplitters make their Tex Turner Arena debut and open South Atlantic Conference play against Carson-Newman at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 24. Lees-McRae ventures to Young Harris on Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. tip-off.