BREVARD, N.C. -- Time and time again this season, the Lady Railsplitters have found themselves in games that have gone down to the wire. Lincoln Memorial opened the season with two buzzer-beating losses to Lander and USC Aiken, beat Carson-Newman in the final seconds, played back-to-back games decided by three points and then went to overtime against King.
 
Monday night's visit to Brevard was no exception to that trend, either, as the Lady Railsplitters (6-3, 3-1 SAC) outlasted the Tornados (1-6, 0-4 SAC) for a 72-70 victory in South Atlantic Conference women's hoops action at Boshamer Gymnasium. Lincoln Memorial has now won six of its last seven games, while Brevard dropped its third consecutive game.
 
Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) led the way with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go along with four rebounds and three steals. Kortnay Cox (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) notched her first double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds in 24 minutes off of the bench. Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) was limited to eight points and four rebounds, as she played only 11 minutes before drawing her fifth foul. Kiara Rawls (Killeen, Texas) and Sydnie Anderson (Cleveland, Tenn.) had seven points apiece.
 
The Lady Railsplitters shot 47.5 percent (29-for-61) from the field despite connecting on just one of their 11 attempts from three-point range. Lincoln Memorial added a 13-for-18 effort from the charity stripe.
 
Lincoln Memorial trailed 22-18 at the end of one quarter, and Brevard opened the second period on a 9-2 run to pull ahead 31-20 on Hadara Bannister's layup with 6:46 to go in the half. The deficit held at nine (35-26) after Katie Williams connected on a jumper with 3:21 left in the second, but the Lady Railsplitters pulled back within four at 35-31 on a basket by Rachel Griffith (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) at the 1:55 mark. Williams increased the Tornados' lead to 38-31 on a three-pointer, however, Cox and Rawls paced a quick 4-0 spurt to cut Brevard's halftime lead to 38-35.
 
Williams hit a three-pointer right at the onset of the third quarter, but Lincoln Memorial would control the pace for the remainder of the period, as a free throw by Griffith at the 3:25 mark capped a 15-4 run that put the Lady Railsplitters in front 50-45. Shelby Wolfe trimmed the Lady Railsplitters' lead to three with a free throw at 2:19, but a 7-0 flurry gave LMU its largest lead of the game at 58-48 on Harding's jumper with 33 seconds left in the quarter. The Tornados closed the gap to 58-50 at the end of three with two more free throws.
 
The Tornados steadily chipped away at the Lady Railsplitters' lead in the fourth quarter and eventually took the lead on Madison Lenox's three-pointer at the 2:00 mark, which ended an 8-0 Brevard run. Harding put LMU back in front with a jumper on the next possession, but Lynsey Crisp buried a three-pointer on the other end to give the Tornados a 70-68 lead with 1:35 to go.
 
After a missed jumper, Cox forced a turnover and gathered a putback on her own missed shot to tie the game at 70-70 with 52 seconds left. Harding then grabbed a steal on the other end to give the Lady Railsplitters a chance to win it. Rawls missed the initial game-winning shot attempt, but Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) grabbed the rebound and threw it out to Britney Guy (Locust Grove, Ga.), who buried the jumper to put the Lady Railsplitters on top 72-70.
 
The Lady Railsplitters committed what could have been a costly foul with a second left in regulation, but Wolfe missed both free throw attempts to seal LMU's win.
 
Four of Brevard's five starters hit double figures in the contest, accounting for 57 of the team's 70 points. Lenox had 16 points, while Wolfe and Williams notched 14 points apiece. Bannister added 13 points but turned the ball over seven times.
 
The Tornados finished shooting 41.1 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three and 84.2 percent from the free-throw line.
 
Quick Hits
The Lady Railsplitters moved to 17-2 all-time against Brevard and won for the sixth straight time at Boshamer Gymnasium...Cox's 13 rebounds matched her previous career-high, first set against Newberry last season at Tex Turner Arena (12/15/14)...Lincoln Memorial committed 23 turnovers, which led to 20 points for Brevard. However, the Tornados were worse in that department, committing 22 miscues that led to 27 points for the Railsplitters...The Lady Railsplitters outrebounded the Tornados 41-27, grabbed 13 offensive boards and scored 21 second-chance points...10 of the 12 players to appear in Monday's contest notched at least one field goal for the Lady Railsplitters...LMU outscored the Tornados 23-12 in the third quarter but were outscored 20-14 in the fourth...The Lady Railsplitters have now played six games that have been decided by three points or less, and that's not including Saturday's 78-70 overtime win at King
 
Up Next
The Lady Railsplitters play their third game in five days on Wednesday, December 16 when they welcome the Wingate Bulldogs to Tex Turner Arena for a 6 p.m. tip. The Bulldogs have not beaten LMU in Harrogate since 2011.