HARROGATE, Tenn. -- A crucial step in deciding the seedings for the South Atlantic Conference Championship will be taken on Wednesday afternoon as the Lady Railsplitters (14-12, 11-9 SAC) make the short drive to Jefferson City, Tenn. for a match-up against the Carson-Newman Eagles (17-9, 11-9 SAC). Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. inside of Holt Fieldhouse.
 
With two games remaining in the regular season schedule, Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman are knotted in a two-way tie for fifth in the league standings. Heading into Wednesday's game, the Lady Railsplitters hold the tiebreaker over the Eagles by virtue of a win in the first head-to-head meeting.
 
A win in Wednesday's contest would complete the sweep and assure that the Lady Railsplitters would finish no worse than fifth in the final SAC standings. It would also preserve the chance of Lincoln Memorial breaking back into the top four and earning a home game for the quarterfinal round of the SAC Championship with a win at Catawba on Saturday.
 
The Lady Railsplitters completely dominated on the interior and warded off a late rally to knock off the Brevard Tornados 81-74 on Monday night, snapping an eight-game road losing skid. Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) and Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) combined for 38 points and 18 rebounds as Lincoln Memorial accounted for a 37-27 rebounding edge and outscored Brevard 34-12 in the paint. The Lady Railsplitters led by as many 18 points early in the second half, but the Tornados whittled it all the way back to a two-point lead with 40 seconds left. The Lady Railsplitters closed with a 5-0 spurt to stiff-arm the Tornados. 
 
The first meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman was arguably the most exciting game of the season as the Lady Railsplitters prevailed 90-85 in an overtime thriller at Tex Turner Arena just three weeks ago. Lincoln Memorial emerged from a back-and-forth contest late in regulation, carrying a five-point lead into the final minute of regulation. A few LMU blunders, paired with some clutch baskets by Carson-Newman, helped the Eagles close with a 6-1 flurry and send the game into overtime. The Eagles led early in overtime, but the Lady Railsplitters finished on an 18-9 run over the last four minutes to claim the victory.
 
Carson-Newman is 2-3 since that initial encounter, dropping road games at Lenoir-Rhyne, Wingate and Anderson, while knocking off Brevard and Queens. In Monday night's win over the Royals, the Eagles shot just 40 percent from the field, went 3-for-11 from three and were outrebounded 38-31. Kailyn Brooks led Carson-Newman with 17 points, while Taylor Peterson posted 12 points in 27 minutes.
 
The Eagles opened the season with 11 consecutive wins and ascended as high as No. 8 in the DII Media Poll. Since the calendar flipped to 2015, though, Carson-Newman is just 6-9. The Eagles have won just two of their last eight games heading into Wednesday's match-up.
 
Carson-Newman is led by Jessica Simerly and Tatum Burstrom, as both pieces of that tandem are averaging 10.2 points per game. Simerly is shooting 59.9 percent from the field and leading the Eagles in rebounding with 5.4 per game, while Burstrom is carrying a paltry 33.7 percent mark from the floor and dishing out 2.4 assists per appearance. Brooks is contributing nine points per game, while Whitney Kyle is providing 7.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
 
In the first meeting with the Lady Railsplitters, Kyle led the way with 14 points and six rebounds. Burstrom canned three three-pointers and scored 13 points, while Jasmine Poole and Allison Hodge collected 12 points apiece.
 
The Lady Railsplitters are looking to sweep the regular season series over Carson-Newman for the second consecutive season, accomplishing that feat for the first time since 2002-2004. Lincoln Memorial captured a 73-68 victory in Jefferson City last season. Katrina Ottesen (Chandler, Ariz.) scored nine points with three triples in that contest.
 
Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. in Jefferson City, Tenn. Live stats, video and audio links will all be available through www.LMURailsplitters.com.

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