HARROGATE, Tenn. -- Sophomore Rachel Griffith (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) fueled a late comeback run by the Lady Railsplitters as LMU upset 21st-ranked Lander 71-67 Friday night in the Tex Turner Arena in the SAC vs. Peach Belt Conference Challenge.

With the win, LMU (1-0) moves to 2-1 in season openers in the Krystal Evans Era.

Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) led the way for LMU with 14 points. Freshman Sydney Duggins (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) had an impressive debut with 11 points and seven rebounds and fellow Oliver Springs native Rachel Griffith added in 10 points of her own. Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) led the Lady Railsplitters on the board with eight rebounds.

Myleah McKenith dropped 27 points on 9-of-23 shooting from the field, including 4-of-6 3-pointers and going 5-of-6 from the free throw line while also grabbing eight rebounds. Victoria Baldwin added in 12 points for the Bearcats.

LMU came out and almost immediately grabbed the lead on a layup by Sydnie Anderson (Cleveland, Tenn.) in the first 30 seconds. Junior Karsen Sims (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) then sparked a 15-7 run as she scored off a steal by Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) and scored eight points over the next five minutes to help put LMU up 17-7 with 5:08 remaining in the period. A Pittman layup a couple minutes later would put the Lady Railsplitters up 20-8. Lander then went on a 11-5 run of their own to cut the score to 25-19 at the end of the first quarter.

After shooting nearly 60 percent in the first stanza, LMU continued their hot shooting in the second frame as they extended the lead back to double digits on two occasions.  layup and a pair of free throws by the Bearcats cut the lead to 42-35 at the half.

The third quarter was almost a carbon copy of the second as LMU would pull out to a double-digit lead only to see Lander cut it back to four points each time. After a pair of Duggins baskets and two free throws by Pittman put LMU up 59-49, Baldwin buried one of her four three pointers with 21 seconds to cut the Bearcat deficit to seven points entering the fourth quarter.

Lander would heat up in the fourth stanza and finally take their first lead of the contest with 5:21 left on a driving layup by McKenith. Both teams then traded missed baskets and turnovers for the next three minutes before Griffith corralled the offensive rebound and the putback to give LMU the 66-65 lead with 2:58 remaining. Jessica Harris then would put the Bearcats up again by one at the 2:10 mark after she stole the ball and hit the layup on the fast break. 

The Lady Railsplitters then amped up their defensive pressure and were able to keep Lander from scoring down the stretch but were unable to re-take the lead until Pittman grabbed the defensive rebound and found Griffith wide-open on the perimeter with 20 seconds left. Griffith then made a move around a defender and hit the clutch layup with 18 seconds remaining to put LMU ahead 69-67. Lander was unable to score on the ensuing possession and were forced to foul. Duggins then hit one of two free throws to put LMU ahead by two. Lander then called timeout to advance the ball to midcourt. After getting the ball in to McKenith, she turned the ball over to Griffith and Lander quickly fouled with 1.2 seconds remaining. Griffith then buried the free throws to seal the 71-67 victory.

LMU will face USC Aiken in the final game of the Conference Challenge tomorrow at 4 p.m. The Pacers fell to Carson-Newman 84-78 in the opening game of the Conference Challenge.