HARROGATE, Tenn. -- Senior Katrina Ottesen (Chandler, Ariz.) poured in a career-high 20 points and the Lady Railsplitters (13-12, 10-9 SAC) rallied from a late 10-point deficit to close out the home schedule in style with a 63-60 win over the first-place Wingate Bulldogs (19-8, 17-3 SAC) on Saturday at Tex Turner Arena. Lincoln Memorial became just the second team to defeat the red-hot Bulldogs since December 18.
 
It was Senior Day at Tex Turner Arena as the Lady Railsplitters honored the careers of Ottesen, Ashley Pritchett (Decatur, Ga.), Samantha Satterlee (Junction City, Kan.) and Stephanie Smith (La Vergne, Tenn.) in a pre-game ceremony. Out of that quartet, Ottesen was the only one healthy enough to dress out, and the Chandler, Ariz. native dazzled in the final regular season home game of her career. 
 
Ottesen went 6-for-10 from the field and buried four three-pointers while piling up a game- and career-high 20 points. She went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe, hauled in five rebounds and led all players with four steals. Ottesen scored 13 of her 20 points in the second half.
 
Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) backed Ottesen's effort with her first double-double in nearly a month and her sixth of the season, scoring 16 points and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds in 28 minutes of work. Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) struggled from the field with a 3-for-11 shooting mark, but finished with nine points and three assists over 28 minutes of burn.
 
The Lady Railsplitters finished shooting 37.7 percent (20-for-53) from the field, 33.3 percent (6-for-18) from three and 81 percent (17-for-21) from the free throw line. The home team collected a 39-36 rebounding edge and outscored the Bulldogs 24-20 in the paint.
 
Lincoln Memorial put on the clamps defensively, limiting the Bulldogs to 33.9 percent (19-for-56) shooting. Wingate offset that by draining seven of its 10 three-point attempts and going 15-for-17 (88.2 percent) at the charity stripe. The Lady Railsplitters were especially dominant in the opening stanza, relinquishing just 10 field goals on a 30.3 percent mark. On the wings of that stellar defensive effort, the Lady Railsplitters held a narrow 30-27 edge at the end of the first half.
 
The contest remained close early in the second period as an Ottesen three-ball at 12:34 knotted the game at 40-40. Kelli Bonner answered with a three-pointer and Chantal Dunbar knocked down two free throws to give Wingate a 45-40 lead at the 10:41 mark, but triples from Coker and Ottesen made it a 47-46 game with 8:50 remaining in regulation.
 
After Ottesen's three, the Lady Railsplitters went on a more than a two and a half minute scoring drought as the Bulldogs pushed the lead to 56-46 with a 9-0 run capped by two Morgan McGee free throws at 6:38. The Lady Railsplitters refused to go away, though, rattling off 13 of the next 15 points to take over the lead at 59-58 on an old-fashioned, three-point play by Pittman with 1:40 left.
 
A quick foul and two free throws by Brittany Hall put the Bulldogs back in front 60-59, but that would be the last points Wingate would muster. Ottesen went to the line at 1:13 and drained both of her free throws to swing the lead for the 17th and final time in the contest. After that, McGee missed back-to-back jumpers, Pittman corralled the rebound and extended the lead to 63-60 with 12 seconds left. The Bulldogs were unable to get a shot off in their final possession as Ottesen ripped the ball away from Hill and sealed it with her fourth steal of the contest.
 
The Lady Railsplitters played relatively clean basketball, matching a season-low with 13 turnovers.
 
Bonner paced the Bulldogs with 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting from deep, while Dunbar and McGee collected 13 points apiece. The Lady Railsplitters limited the Dunbar-McGee duo to an 8-for-24 effort from the field. Andrea Bertrand scored seven points in 20 minutes of work.
 
With the win, the Lady Railsplitters avenged their most one-sided loss of the season, an 88-65 defeat at the hands of Wingate on January 10. Lincoln Memorial improved to 7-12 in the all-time series, defeating the Bulldogs for the third time in the past two seasons.
 
The Lady Railsplitters will have just one day to rest before paying a visit to the Brevard Tornados on Monday for a makeup of this past Wednesday's snow out. Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m. in Brevard, N.C.