HARROGATE, Tenn. -- Freshman midfielder Bre'Asia James (Vero Beach, Fla.) poured in a career-high five goals as the Lincoln Memorial University women's lacrosse team (1-7) captured the program's first ever victory, outlasting the University of Pikeville Bears (1-3) 8-5 on Tuesday at the LMU Lacrosse Complex.
 
The Lady Railsplitters jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, as James won the first draw control of the match and went coast-to-coast for the unassisted score just 11 seconds in. James gathered the next draw control and a foul was issued on Jasmine Higgins, giving Autumn Beddington (Newburgh, Ind.) the free-position attempt, and she delivered with a goal with just 34 seconds off the clock.
 
Lacey Turner put the Bears on the boards at the 27:58 mark with an unassisted goal, but James tacked on two more goals at the 16:45 and 9:43 junctures to extend the Lady Railsplitters' advantage to 4-1.
 
An Ashli Motsch (Knoxville, Tenn.) caused turnover led to another Lady Railsplitter goal, as Lincoln Memorial quickly got the clearance and Beddington scored with 4:40 left in the half.
 
Taylor Bussell scored for the Bears with five seconds left in the period to send the Lady Railsplitters into the break with a 5-2 cushion.
 
The Lady Railsplitters opened the second half in nearly identical fashion to the beginning of regulation as James won the first draw control of the period and drew a foul on Bussell. James finished off the free position attempt with 40 seconds gone in the half.
 
Kylah Endicott (Pineville, Ky.) ballooned the Lady Railsplitters' lead to 7-2 and notched the first goal of her tenure in the Blue and Gray, finishing off an unassisted goal at the 23:10 mark. James added another score - her fifth of the match - a little over a minute later on a free position attempt.
 
The Bears closed the match with three unanswered goals as Turner registered a pair of goals and Yenlinh Trinh used a Turner assist to score another, but the Lady Railsplitters clung to the victory by holding Pikeville scoreless for the final seven and a half minutes.
 
The Lady Railsplitters reset their program-high for goals (8), shots (21), shots on goal (18) and caused turnovers (20). Lincoln Memorial won 10 of the 15 draw controls and went 14-for-22 on clears. Pikeville finished with a 33-26 advantage in ground-ball recoveries.
 
James led all players with five goals, eight shots (all of which landed on goal) and eight draw controls. Beddington chipped in with two goals, seven shots on goal and a pair of ground balls. Carly Cepelak (Tampa, Fla.) led the Lady Railsplitters with four caused turnovers.
 
Shannon Novak (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) earned the first win of her collegiate career, making nine saves and allowing five goals in the full 60 minutes. She led all players with six ground-ball recoveries.
 
The win ends a seven-game losing skid for the Lady Railsplitters, and gives Lincoln Memorial the first women's lacrosse victory in school history.
 
The Lady Railsplitters finished with a 21-17 shot advantage and an 18-14 cushion in shots on goal.
 
Next up, Lincoln Memorial begins a closing stretch with three of their last four games on the road, visiting the Newberry Wolves for a South Atlantic Conference battle at 2 p.m. on Saturday.