HARROGATE, Tenn. -- Fourth-quarter letdowns plagued the Lady Railsplitters in the first weekend of the season and ultimately resulted in an 0-2 start.
 
But those fourth-quarter issues and that slow start felt like a distant memory on Saturday afternoon at Tex Turner Arena, as Lincoln Memorial (3-2) outscored the visiting University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) Patriots (6-1) by 14 in the final period to notch their third straight win, 72-58.
 
Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) tallied her third consecutive double-double to lead the Lady Railsplitters with 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting coupled with 10 rebounds and two steals. Sydnie Anderson (Cleveland, Tenn.) piled up 14 points, two rebounds, three assists and three steals in just 22 minutes of action, while Kiara Rawls (Killeen, Texas) collected 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting off of the bench. Britney Guy (Locust Grove, Ga.) chipped in with eight points and a team-high five assists in 28 minutes. 
 
The Lady Railsplitters finished 23-for-55 (41.8 percent) from the field and 3-for-12 (25 percent) from three-point territory, but overcame an otherwise mediocre shooting night by knocking down 23 free throws and committing a season-low nine turnovers. Lincoln Memorial produced a 19-point advantage at the free-throw line alone, as the Patriots made just four of nine attempts at the charity stripe. The Lady Railsplitters also forced Cumberlands into 21 turnovers and scored 22 points off of those miscues.
 
The game was tied at 38-38 after a low-scoring third period in which the two teams combined for just 16 points, but the Lady Railsplitters far exceeded that point total by themselves over an eight-minute stretch in the fourth quarter and effectively seized control of the contest.
 
After Rawls and Heather Jolley traded baskets, Pittman registered six unanswered points to push the Lady Railsplitters in front 46-40 with 7:38 to play. A LaTeesha DeLoach jumper briefly halted Lincoln Memorial's run, but the home team would rip off a 12-2 spurt over the next four and a half minutes to pull ahead 58-44 on a layup by Jasmine Kelly (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) with 2:52 to play. A couple of three-pointers from Lydia Box trimmed the deficit to 62-50, but Emily Griffith (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) capped a 5-0 flurry for the Lady Railsplitters with a jumper at the 1:09 mark, ballooning the lead to 67-50.
 
The Lady Railsplitters completed their best quarter of the 2015-16 campaign with 34 points on 9-of-12 shooting paired with a 15-for-20 mark at the free-throw line. By comparison, Cumberlands produced 20 points on an 8-for-20 effort from the field with seven turnovers.
 
Cheyenne Madden led the Patriots with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting to go along with six rebounds. Lydia Box notched a double-double for Cumberlands with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds to help the visiting team accumulate a 40-34 advantage on the glass. Sarah Kelton and DeLoach had nine and eight, respectively, for the Patriots.
 
The Patriots finished shooting 42.1 percent from the field (24-for-57) with a 6-for-16 mark from three-point range.
 
The Lady Railsplitters scored 32 points in the paint and received 33 points from their bench, while Cumberlands had just 22 points inside of the square with 20 bench points.
 
Quick Hits
The Lady Railsplitters authored a 24-point swing over the course of the contest, as they trailed by as many as seven points early in the first quarter before pulling ahead by as many as 17 late in the fourth...Lincoln Memorial's nine turnovers were the fewest of the Krystal Evans era, bettering four different 13-turnover performances during the 2014-15 season...Saturday was the first meeting between LMU and Cumberlands since 1997, as the Lady Railsplitters defeated the Patriots for the fourth consecutive time and improved to 18-9 in the all-time series...The Patriots entered Saturday's contest leading the NAIA in scoring defense by allowing just 46.3 points per game...With 14 points, Anderson reset her career-high for points, which was previously 13
 
Up Next
The Lady Railsplitters return to South Atlantic Conference action by paying a visit to Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday, December 2 for a 4 p.m. tip. Lincoln Memorial has not defeated the Bears since February 25, 2012, dropping six straight since then to fall to 4-14 in the all-time series. Cumberlands heads to Pikeville on December 3.