JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitter basketball team saw a 13 point lead disappear only to make a late fourth quarter surge and claim the 102-99 South Atlantic Conference victory over Carson-Newman in record fashion Tuesday evening.

With the win, LMU moves to 5-0 on the season for the first time since going 7-0 in the 1991-92 season. By a weird quirk of fate, that team improved to 5-0 with a win over the Lady Eagles.

It is also the first time in 90 meetings that LMU has passed the century mark vs. Carson-Newman. The Lady Eagles have only done it twice, in 1979 and 1983.

Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) led the way for LMU with a career-high 25 points as she went 9-of-18 from the field, 4-of-8 from three point range and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) chipped in 18 points. Karsen Sims (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) also had a career high with 17 points and Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) had 16 points.

Harding led the way defensively as she pulled down 27 rebounds to set a new LMU and South Atlantic Conference record. The previous LMU high of 25 was set by Robin Cox vs. North Greenville on Feb. 26, 1996 and the former SAC high of 26 was set by Newberry's Tiffany Johnson vs. Tusculum on Feb. 9, 2000. Harding's 27 rebounds are also currently the most amongst all NCAA Divisions this season to date.

The win eclipses a career high by C-N's Mika Wester as the Newport, Tennessee native led the Lady Eagles with 28 points. Kayla Stubblefield added in 21 points and Haris Price 19.

LMU, who has not trailed in the rebounding category this season, outrebounded C-N for the game by a 50-34 margin. Carson-Newman out-shot the Lady Railsplitters by a 49.3-45.8 percent margin from the field, but LMU had the advantage in three point shooting (42.1% to 38.5%) and free throws (70.0% to 66.7%).

LMU dominated the first quarter as they went out to a quick 14-4 lead. C-N would cut it to eight before a three-pointer by Coker sparked a 9-4 run over the next 1:33 to put the Lady Railsplitters ahead by 28-12. The Lady Eagles would make a late run to cut the lead to 30-22 at the end of the first frame. For the period, LMU shot a blistering 71.4 percent.

Carson-Newman would take advantage of a pair of scoring droughts by LMU to grab the lead with a pair of Wester free throws with 1:35 left in the half. A free throw by Shermeria Quarles (Greenwood, S.C.) would cut the lead to 49-48 late, but a Wester jump shot as time expired game C-N the 51-48 lead at the half.

LMU would tie the game four times in the third quarter but never take the lead. They would keep it close, eventually tying the game 68-68 off of two free throws by Rachel Griffith (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) with 1:04 remaining. The Lady Eagles then rolled off five unanswered points to take a late 73-68 lead. Harding would hit one of two free throws with a second left to make the score 73-69 at the end of the third stanza.

Sims came out strong in the fourth quarter, scoring five quick points to put LMU ahead 74-73 with 8:59 remaining. The teams would switch leads a couple times before C-N grabbed the 83-78 lead with 2:53 left. After a pair of LMU free throws cut the lead to 85-82, Coker then went on a one-woman 7-2 run to give the Lady Railsplitters the 89-87 lead with 36 seconds left. Price then drove the length of the court and used a screen to hit the layup and tie the game with 28 seconds remaining. Coker had a good look with three seconds left but it rolled out and the game went to overtime tied at 89-89.

LMU won the overtime tip-off and Ross Mathis (Greer, S.C.) found Coker open at the free throw line to give LMU the 91-89 lead. A Price layup would tie it with 4:29 remaining before LMU used a pair of Pittman free throws and a Coker layup to pull out to the 95-91 lead. A jumper by Sydnie Anderson (Cleveland, Tenn.) with 1:43 left would give LMU a seemingly insurmountable 100-94 lead, but a LMU scoring drought allowed C-N to cut the lead to 100-99 with 34 seconds left.

Coach Krystal Evans then called the timeout to advance the ball, but LMU missed the shot. C-N's Ashton Wykle then tried a game-winning three pointer with six seconds left but Harding's 27^th rebound sealed the deal as C-N was forced to foul. Sims hit both free throws to put the lead at 102-99 with 0.8 seconds left. A desperation three-pointer by the Lady Eagles as time expired went wide, giving LMU the 102-99 victory.

After a couple of days off for Thanksgiving, the Lady Railsplitters return to action on Saturday, Nov. 26 as they host Lees-McRae. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. in the Tex Turner Arena.