HARROGATE, Tenn. -- In a rematch of one of the most thrilling games of the season, the Lady Railsplitters (12-10, 9-7 SAC) travel to Greeneville, Tenn. for a Wednesday evening, South Atlantic Conference tip against the Tusculum Pioneers (5-14, 5-11 SAC).
 
The first meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum was one of the most tightly contested games of the season. That January 14th battle at Tex Turner Arena featured 12 ties and 18 lead changes with neither team establishing a lead of more than eight points in the game. The Lady Railsplitters closed the first half on a 14-3 spurt and then outlasted Tusculum down the stretch in an 85-80 victory. Both teams finished with almost identical shooting percentages, with the Lady Railsplitters edging the Pioneers 46.5 to 45.5 in that department. Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) ultimately made the difference, though, putting up a monster 23-15 performance. Katrina Ottesen (Chandler, Ariz.) backed Pittman with 18 points and four three-pointers.
 
Close games have been a consistent theme of the Lady Railsplitters' season. Nine of the team's 22 games have been decided by five points or fewer, while only nine contests total have had a final margin of more than 10 points. Including the last meeting with Tusculum, five of LMU's past seven games have been separated by five points or less.
 
Saturday was not one of those games, though, as the Lady Railsplitters fell for the seventh straight time on the road and lost for the 10th consecutive time in Newberry, suffering an 82-72 setback to the Wolves. Lincoln Memorial led by nine with 12 minutes left in the first half, but Newberry outscored the visiting unit 29-13 from that point on to carry a seven-point lead into the break. The Lady Railsplitters would never lead again in the contest. Free throws and turnovers created that final separation as the Wolves produced 11 more points at the charity stripe (23-12) and used 18 LMU miscues to create 22 points.
 
Freshman Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) dazzled yet again for the Lady Railsplitters in that contest, scoring 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting. The Knoxville, Tenn. native has produced double figure points in seven consecutive games and nine of her 11 appearances since the calendar flipped to 2015.
 
The Lady Railsplitters' seven-game road losing streak is the longest such streak for the program since the 2010-11 squad dropped eight consecutive road games. It is also the longest current streak in the South Atlantic Conference.
 
The Tusculum Pioneers are just 2-5 since the first meeting with the Lady Railsplitters, and all five of those losses have been decided by 10 points or more. Tusculum is coming off of an 89-79 loss at Catawba this past Saturday. The visitors were 27-for-54 from inside of the three-point arc, but finished 2-for-12 outside of it. The Pioneers led only once in that contest following Kristen McMillion's jumper just 27 seconds into the game.
 
The Pioneers' past two games have been marred by poor three-point shooting and a high volume of turnovers. Tusculum is 3-for-18 from three-point range in its two February games with an ugly minus three assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
Shynese Whitener, Maelyn Cutshaw and Rainey Story lead the Pioneers in scoring. Whitener averages 14.6 points, 4.6 points and 3.3 assists per game, while Cutshaw is good for 12.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and three assists per appearance. Whitener and Cutshaw combined for 50 of the team's 80 points in the first meeting against the Lady Railsplitters. That duo went 20-for-38 from the floor, buried six three-pointers and handed out 10 assists. Story is contributing 11.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
 
Blakely Burleson and Kristen McMillion should also be factors in Wednesday's contest. Burleson is averaging 9.7 points per game, while McMillion is accounting for a near double-double with 7.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
 
The Lady Railsplitters are just 5-16 against the Pioneers since the start of the 2005-06 campaign, but have won three of the past four meetings. Lincoln Memorial defeated Tusculum 76-66 in Greeneville last season. Aisjah Lee (Louisville, Ky.) led the way with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
 
Tip-off between Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum is set for 6 p.m. Live stats and a video broadcast will be accessible through www.LMURailsplitters.com, while fans can also listen along with Voice of the Railsplitters Rusty Peace at WLMU 91.3 the Gap. Pre-game coverage begins at 5:40 p.m.

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Audio