HARROGATE, Tenn. -- A combination of their deep bench and one of their best three-point perfomances in school history helped propel the Lady Railsplitters (8-5, 5-3 SAC) to an 80-66 South Atlantic Conference victory over Queens (2-10, 0-7 SAC) Saturday afternoon in the Tex Turner Arena.

LMU had one of their best offensive performances of the season, going 30-of-63 (47.6%) from the field, which is their second-best shooting percentage of the season after they hit 51.1 percent against USC Aiken in November. From behind the arc, the Lady Railsplitters went 11-of-21 (.524) for the game, which is the seventh-best three-point percentage in program history and the most three-pointers made by LMU in a game since 2011. From the free-throw line, they hit 9-of-13 (69.3%) for the game. Lincoln Memorial led Queens in rebounding by a 36-20 advantage.

Ross Mathis (Greer, S.C.) came off the bench for 11 points (including three three-pointers) to lead Lincoln Memorial. Kiara Rawls (Kileen, Texas) added in 10 points. Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) had her fifth-straight double-digit rebound game with 10 rebounds.

Queens started off the game with the hot shooting touch as the Royals shot 69.2 percent from the field in the first frame. Mickell Oliverio led the Royals with 9 points as they rolled out to the 21-16 lead after one quarter.

The second quarter saw the Lady Railsplitters come out and heat up offensively with seven quick points, taking the 23-21 lead on a three-pointer by Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) with 7:04 remaining. A pair of missed jumpers by Queens and another mid-range jumper by Coker saw LMU take the four-point lead at 25-21 a little over a minute later. Queens would cut the lead back to 27-25 with a basket by Erin Brundage with 4:03 left in the quarter, but an 8-2 run over the remainder of the period would give the Lady Railsplitters a 35-27 lead at the half.

LMU then opened up the second half with a 12-2 run to go up by 18, 47-29, off the three-pointer by Mathis with 4:48 left in the quarter. Both teams traded several baskets before a Brundage jumper with two seconds left cut the lead to 53-38 after three quarters.

The fourth quarter saw LMU coach Krystal Evans go deep in the bench as she played all seven Lady Railsplitter freshmen for the majority of the period as LMU cruised to the 80-66 win.

Oliverio led the Royals with 17 points. Carmen Richardson and Karlesha Thompson had 13 points each and Brundage added in 12. 

Quick Hits
The Lady Railsplitters improved their record vs. Queens to 9-2 all-time and a perfect 6-0 in Harrogate. They are a perfect 5-0 against Queens since the Royals joined the SAC in 2013...LMU's bench outscored Queens' by a 50-5 margin...The game featured two ties and two lead changes.

Up Next
The Lady Railsplitters will host the SAC-leading Anderson Trojans this coming Wednesday, January 13 for a 6 p.m. tip. Anderson is currently 8-0 in conference play after escaping Lenoir-Rhyne with the 57-54 come-from-behind win Saturday afternoon.