HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The Lady Railsplitters (12-12, 9-9 SAC) begin a treacherous closing stretch on Saturday by hosting the first-place Wingate Bulldogs (19-7, 17-2 SAC) for a 2 p.m. tip at Tex Turner Arena for the final home game of the regular season. Per tradition, Lincoln Memorial will celebrate Senior Day festivities with a ceremony to commemorate the careers of its four seniors.
 
Two different snow storms battered the Harrogate area on Monday and Wednesday, making it impossible for the Lady Railsplitters to travel to Brevard for their scheduled visit on Wednesday evening. That game was pushed back to Monday evening, forcing Lincoln Memorial to close the regular season with four games in seven days. Following Saturday's match-up against league-leading Wingate, the Lady Railsplitters will venture to Brevard, Carson-Newman and Catawba for three games with major postseason implications.
 
The Wingate Bulldogs will provide one of the stoutest challenges the Lady Railsplitters have faced this season. Since starting with a 4-6 record that included a 66-46 loss at Pittsburg State, the Bulldogs have won 15 of their last 16 games. Wingate ripped off 12 consecutive wins and went undefeated in January until finally seeing its winning streak end in a 68-57 loss at Anderson. Since then, the Bulldogs have knocked off Queens, Carson-Newman and Coker in succession.
 
Wingate and Anderson have clearly separated themselves from the rest of the pack in the SAC standings as those two teams are tied at the top with a 17-2 league record. Newberry is in third place with a 13-6 SAC tally.  The Lady Railsplitters enter Saturday's contest alone in sixth place in the league standings at 9-9 in SAC play. LMU still has an outside shot to finish in the top four of the final standings and earn a home game for the SAC Championship quarterfinals, but a rough finish could potentially saddle the Lady Railsplitters with a first-round trip to either Wingate or Anderson.
 
The first meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Wingate fell heavily in the Bulldogs' favor as the Lady Railsplitters were handed their worst loss of the season in an 88-65 setback in Wingate, N.C. on January 10. That loss was mostly a result of a dismal first half of basketball for the visiting team, who shot 34.5 percent and allowed 48.4 percent shooting in the first stanza, falling behind by 18 points at the break. The Lady Railsplitters finished shooting 42.4 percent (28-for-66) for the game, but turned the ball over 16 times. Those turnovers were converted into 28 points by the Bulldogs. Kiara Rawls (Killeen, Texas) scored 12 points and handed out seven assists, while Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) contributed nine points and 12 rebounds in 25 minutes of work.
 
The Bulldogs' success this season has mostly relied on a gritty defensive unit. Wingate allows the second-fewest points per game (59.3) in the SAC with the league's second-best opponents' field-goal percentage (38.6 percent). Teams are only shooting 27.3 percent from three-point territory against the Bulldogs. Wingate is an average offensive team, scoring 66.4 points per game on 40.5 percent shooting. Three-point shooting has keyed the Bulldog attack as they lead the league with a 36.3 percent mark from deep.
 
Four different players average better than 10 points per game for the Bulldogs. Chantal Dunbar leads the Bulldogs in both points (11.5) and rebounds (9.8) per game, as the senior forward is shooting 44.4 percent from the field. Morgan McGee is contributing 10.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, while Shelby Tricoli is scoring 10.6 points per game and shooting 48.6 percent from three. Andrea Bertrand is averaging right at 10 points per game. In the first meeting against Lincoln Memorial, McGee led the way with 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Bertrand scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
 
The Lady Railsplitters have defeated the Bulldogs three straight times at Tex Turner Arena since the start of the 2011-12 campaign. Lincoln Memorial won last season's meeting 75-71, as Katrina Ottesen (Chandler, Ariz.) poured in 11 points and Britney Guy (Locust Grove, Ga.) scored seven points and grabbed three rebounds.
 
The Lady Railsplitters are 10-3 in Harrogate this season and 5-1 in the past six appearances at Tex Turner.
 
In coordination with the Tex Turner Arena finale, the Lady Railsplitters will celebrate Senior Day by honoring the careers of Ashley Pritchett (Decatur, Ga.), Stephanie Smith (La Vergne, Tenn.), Ottesen and Samantha Satterlee (Junction City, Kan.). The ceremony will be held prior to the start of Saturday's contest.
 
Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. on Saturday. Live stats and an HD video broadcast will be available for viewing via www.LMURailsplitters.com, while fans can listen along with Voice of the Railsplitters Rusty Peace at WLMU 91.3 the Gap. Pre-game coverage begins at 1:40.

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