BREVARD, N.C. -- The Lady Railsplitters (14-12, 11-9 SAC) dominated the interior and survived a frantic closing run to knock off the Brevard Tornados (8-16, 6-14 SAC) 81-74 in South Atlantic Conference women's hoops action on Monday in Brevard, N.C., ending an eight-game road losing streak.
 
Lincoln Memorial accounted for a 37-27 rebounding advantage, shot 51.9 percent (27-for-52) from the field - the team's best field-goal percentage since a 20-point win over Catawba on January 24 - and outscored the Tornados 34-12 in the paint.
 
Five different players hit double-figures for the Lady Railsplitters, but it was junior Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) and sophomore Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) that had the most influence on the paint. Pittman compiled 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting and hauled in eight rebounds in 34 minutes of action, while Harding also scored 19 points, went 7-for-7 at the charity stripe and led all players with 10 rebounds. Harding finished 6-for-9 from the field and fell just one point shy of matching her career high.
 
Senior Katrina Ottesen (Chandler, Ariz.) knocked down four three-pointers and finished the contest with 14 points. Britney Guy (Locust Grove, Ga.) sparked the Lady Railsplitters with 12 points in 34 minutes off the bench. Ross Mathis (Greer, S.C.) collected 10 points and led all players with three steals.
 
The Lady Railsplitters bagged 21 of their 29 free-throw attempts (72.4 percent) and went 6-for-13 (46.2 percent) from three-point range.
 
Lincoln Memorial shot a hair over 53 percent in the opening stanza and limited the Tornados to just nine field goals on a dismal 34.6 percent mark over that same span, building a 35-28 halftime cushion.
 
The Lady Railsplitters continued to flourish early in the second half, using two three-pointers by Ottesen and a bucket by Pittman to conclude a 16-5 spurt and assume a commanding 51-33 lead with 15:46 remaining in regulation. Lincoln Memorial would need every bit of that 18-point lead as the Tornados slowly whittled it away as the half waned on.
 
A jumper by Guy kept the Lady Railsplitters well in front 57-39 at the 13:31 mark, but Brevard ripped off a 13-2 flurry to trim the deficit to seven with nine minutes left. Katie Williams was the catalyst over the stretch as she accounted for seven of her team's 13 points.
 
A Guy three-pointer and two free throws from Pittman pushed the Lady Railsplitters back out to a 64-52 advantage following the third media timeout of the half, but Hadara Bannister and Nicole Graham drained back-to-back triples to pull the Tornados to within seven points yet again.
 
Pittman and Harding rolled in buckets around two Williams free throws to help keep the Tornados at bay and extend the Lady Railsplitters' lead to 69-60 with 5:13 to play. Brevard answered with treys from Lynsey Crisp and Bannister to make it a 69-66 game at 4:13.
 
Harding ended a nearly two-minute scoring drought with an old-fashioned three-point play, pushing the Lady Railsplitters back out to a 72-66 lead with 2:26 remaining. Williams buried yet another three in the next possession to cut the deficit in half, but Harding went 4-for-4 at the charity stripe in the next two possessions to give the Lady Railsplitters a 76-69 edge with 1:08 on the game clock.
 
A Williams jumper followed by a Graham three-point play suddenly pulled the Tornados within two points at 76-74 with 40 ticks left, but Brevard would not get another points in the contest, missing its only two shot attempts. The Lady Railsplitters, meanwhile, went 5-for-8 at the free-throw line down the stretch to stiff-arm the Tornados.
 
The win ended LMU's streak of eight consecutive losses on the road, which was the longest such skid for the program since the 2010-11 team also lost eight in a row on the road. Like Monday night, that streak also ended with a narrow win at Brevard.
 
Brevard finished shooting 42.6 percent (23-for-54) from the field, 44.4 percent (12-for-27) from three and 76.2 percent (16-for-21) from the free-throw line.
 
Williams led all players with 25 points, hitting seven of her 12 shot attempts and burying five three-pointers. Bannister added 12 points, all off of four three-pointers. Graham contributed 11 points in 15 minutes off the bench.
 
The Lady Railsplitters grabbed 12 offensive rebounds and scored 16 second-chance points off of those opportunities. Harding nearly had as many offensive rebounds (7) as the Tornados did as a team (10).
 
With only a single day of rest, the Lady Railsplitters travel to Jefferson City, Tenn. on Wednesday for a showdown against arch-rival Carson-Newman. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. at Holt Fieldhouse.