JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Lady Railsplitters (14-13, 11-10 SAC) endured a more than six-minute scoring drought at the tail end of the first half and never recovered in a 79-57 loss to the Carson-Newman Eagles (18-9, 12-9 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference women's hoops action in Jefferson City, Tenn. on Wednesday afternoon.
 
It was tough sledding for Lincoln Memorial offensively all afternoon as the visiting unit was limited to a 37 percent (20-for-54) mark from the floor and a 26.7 percent (4-for-15) effort from three-point range. In addition to their inefficient shooting, the Lady Railsplitters turned the ball over 21 times, helping Carson-Newman account for 27 points on the other end of the floor.
 
Junior forward Lakeisha Beasley (College Park, Ga.) was a bright spot for the Lady Railsplitters. In just 23 minutes off the bench, Beasley went 4-for-6 from the floor and 5-for-7 at the free throw line to accumulate a career-high 13 points. Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) was the only other player to log double-figures for Lincoln Memorial, scoring 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
 
It couldn't have been a much better start for the Lady Railsplitters, who raced out to 7-0 lead following a Ross Mathis (Greer, S.C.) three-pointer at 17:24. The Eagles finally got on the board with a bucket by Jessica Simerly just 10 seconds later, but Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) pushed the LMU advantage back to seven with a jumper at 16:27.
 
That was as good as it would get for the Lady Railsplitters, though, as they would score just 13 points in the final 16 minutes of the period and go completely silent over a more than six-minute span. After a 16-2 Eagle run fueled by nine points from Taylor Peterson, a layup by Kortnay Cox (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) cut C-N's cushion to 18-13 with 8:43 left in the half. Following that bucket, the Lady Railsplitters would not score another point until Pittman ended the drought with a bucket at 2:36, trimming Carson-Newman's healthy lead to 28-15.
 
The Lady Railsplitters outscored the Eagles 8-5 in the last two-and-a-half minutes - with five points from Beasley - to cut the halftime deficit to 33-22. 
 
Lincoln Memorial shot just 30.8 percent in the opening stanza, connecting on eight of its 26 shot attempts. Carson-Newman went 13-for-27 (48.1 percent) from the floor over that same span.
 
Things went from bad to worse quickly in the second half as the Eagles outscored the Lady Railsplitters 19-7 through the first 7:19, bulging the lead to 52-29 on a Tatum Burstron three-pointer. Carson-Newman maintained a 21-point lead on a Simerly jumper with 7:49 left to play. A brief 6-0 spurt helped the Lady Railsplitters make a small dent and cut the deficit to 60-45 at 5:24, but that was as close as Lincoln Memorial would get. Powered by eight points at the charity stripe, the Eagles buried LMU with a 10-2 run, extending the lead to 70-49 with 2:25 remaining.
 
Carson-Newman shot 53.8 percent (28-for-52) from the field, 27.3 percent (3-for-11) from three and 87 percent (20-for-23) at the free throw line.
 
Four different players reached double-figures for the Eagles, headlined by Peterson and her game-high 16 points. Kailyn Brooks accounted for 14 points and a game-high 10 assists, while Burstrom collected 12 points. Allison Hodge also scored 12 points in 29 minutes off the bench.
 
The Eagles assisted on 21 of their 28 field goals in the contest.
 
Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman matched each other rebound-for-rebound, tying with 28 rebounds apiece. The Eagles outscored the Lady Railsplitters 38-28 in the paint, while LMU's bench finished with a 35-26 advantage over C-N's second unit.
 
The Lady Railsplitters wrap up the regular season on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Catawba.