HARROGATE, Tenn. -- Fresh off the first win in program history, the Lincoln Memorial University women's lacrosse team (1-7, 0-6 SAC) begins a stretch with three of its last four matches on the road, traveling to the Palmetto State for a South Atlantic Conference battle with the Newberry Wolves (3-7, 1-3 SAC), set for a 2 p.m. start in Newberry, S.C.
 
The Lady Railsplitters ended a month-long drought, halted a seven-match losing skid and picked up their first ever win by triumphing over the Pikeville Bears on Tuesday at the LMU Lacrosse Complex. Bre'Asia James (Vero Beach, Fla.) led the way with a career-high five goals, while Autumn Beddington (Newburgh, Ind.) added two goals and seven shots and Kylah Endicott (Pineville, Ky.) tallied the first marker of her career in the Blue and Gray.
 
In that win over Pikeville, Lincoln Memorial reset its season-high and program-best marks for goals, shot attempts (21), shots on goal (18), free position attempts and goals, and caused turnovers (20).
 
Goalkeeper Shannon Novak (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) made nine more saves against the Bears, increasing her SAC-leading total to 102. Novak has made double-digit saves in six of her eight appearances, including a SAC single-game record 22 saves in a loss to Tusculum on March 18. Novak ranks sixth in the NCAA Division II in saves and fourth in saves per game with 12.75.
 
The offensive impact of James is well noted, as she leads the team with 17 goals and 39 shot attempts, but the Vero Beach, Fla. native is also ranked 14th in the nation in draw controls per game with 5.00. She is third in the SAC in total draw controls with 40.
 
Newberry opened the season with seven straight losses, but has since rolled off three consecutive victories, beating Brevard 17-11, Virginia-Wise 12-7 and Young Harris 12-11. The Wolves are one of just three teams in the SAC with a current winning streak of at least three matches (Queens - 4; Tusculum - 3). In that win over the Mountain Lions, Newberry jumped out to as large as a 9-3 lead and watched as Young Harris clawed back to even the match at 10-10 with 11:35 left. The Wolves then broke away with two late goals and from Victoria Thomas and Tessa Davis to secure the win.
 
The Wolves are scoring 8.80 goals per game and allowing opponents to score 15.40 goals each appearance. Newberry's offensive struggles have been most clearly illuminated on free position attempts, where they have successfully scored on just 20 of their 74 attempts. The Wolves are third in the SAC with 219 total turnovers, but they lead the league in caused turnovers with 117.
 
Newberry is led by junior Jessica Baxtrom, who has accounted for 29 goals, five assists, 15 draw controls and 66 shots. Baxtrom is the reigning SAC Player of the Week after compiling 13 goals last week. Megan Kenny has contributed 14 goals and five assists, while Ajahna Grosvenor has scored 13 times, grabbed 18 ground balls and won 20 draw controls. Katie Thompson leads the Wolves with 27 ground-ball recoveries, while Victoria Thomas is the team leader in draw controls (28) and caused turnovers (20).
 
Morgan Raffaele resides between the pipes for Newberry, carrying a 15.17 goals-against average with 109 goals allowed in 431 minutes of action. Raffaele has made 74 saves and stopped 40.4 percent of the shots she's faced.
 
Live stats and video will be available for Lincoln Memorial's showdown with Newberry, which gets underway at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

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