WINGATE, N.C. -- A cold-shooting second overtime by the Lady Railsplitters (13-8, 10-6 SAC) spoiled the day as Wingate (11-8, 8-7 SAC) escaped with the 83-74 win in double overtime Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena.

Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) led the way for the Lady Railsplitters with 20 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. Kiara Rawls (Killeen, Texas) had 19 points and Britney Guy (Locust Grove, Ga.) added in 11 points and two steals. Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) had her 13th double-digit rebounding performance of the season as she pulled down ten rebounds.

For the game, LMU shot 29.9% (26-87) from the field, 14.3% (2-14) from three-point range and 83.3% (20-24) from the free throw line. They out-rebounded Wingate 55-51 and converted those into 25 second chance points. LMU's bench outscored the Bulldogs' by a 35-24 margin.

The Lady Railsplitters went out to the early 4-2 lead off of a jumper by Harding in the paint. The Bulldogs then went on a 12-4 run to close out the period with the 14-8 lead.

The second quarter saw LMU cut the lead to 17-15 following a basket and a free throw by Rawls at the 7:30 mark. Both teams traded baskets for the rest of the half, but the Bulldogs were able to build on their lead and take a 30-23 advantage into halftime.

In the third quarter the Bulldogs extended the lead to eleven and held off all attempts by the Lady Railsplitters to mount a comeback. LMU was able to trim their deficit to 44-38 following two free throws by Guy, but still trailed 47-39 after three frames.

A free throw by Harding with 8:59 remaining sparked a 9-2 run that was book-ended by a jumper and a free throw from Harding with 5:20 remaining that tied the game at 51-51. Wingate hit a free throw to re-take the lead but another old-fashioned three-point play a minute later gave the Lady Railsplitters their first lead since early in the game. Another jumoer by Harding, who had 11 of her 20 points in the fourth quarter, put LMU up 56-52 with 3:25 left in the game. 

Wingate then went inside to Morgan McGee, who hit to baskets to tie the game 56-56 with 2:22 left. A three-pointer by Rawls put the Lady Railsplitters up 59-56, but Wingate answered back nine seconds later with a layup to cut the LMU lead back to 59-58. Pittman then hit a short jumper to put LMU back up by three, but the Bulldogs took advantage of a LMU turnover and fould following a basket by WU's Amber Neely to tie the game with 23 seconds left. Pittman had two attempts to take the lead, but they both went off the rim and the game went to overtime.

In the first overtime, neither team was able to gather much of an advantage until late in the period when Wingate took a three-point lead. With 13 seconds left, Pittman hit a jumper in the paint to cut the lead to 70-69. Wingate then went inside to McGee, who was fouled and hit both to put the lead back at three, 72-69. After LMU coach Krystal Evans called the timeout to advance the ball, Ross Mathis (Greer, S.C.) found Rawls deep in the corner and she banked in a three-pointer with two seconds left to tie the game at 72-72. After a WU timeout to advance the ball, McGee was able to get a shot off but it fell short and the Lady Railsplitters were faced with their third double overtime of the season.

The fourth overtime saw the Lady Railsplitters go cold offensively as they shot 9.1% for the period. Wingate took advantage and pulled out to a six point lead. Jasmine Kelly (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) cut the lead to 78-74 when she hit a short jumper with 52 seconds left, but the Bulldogs hit enough free throws down the stretch to hold on for the 83-74 win.

McGee led Wingate with 24 points and three blocks. Neely had 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists while Courtney Robinson added in 10 points. Caroline Averette led WU with 11 rebounds and Marta Miscenko had 10. For the game the Bulldogs shot 43.3% (29-67) from the field, 3.3% (2-6) from behind the arc and 51.1% (23-45) from the charity stripe.

Quick Hits --
Harding's 20 points were two shy of her career high of 22.... Her 18 rebounds are tied for tenth-most in a game by a Lady Railsplitter.... The 18 rebounds also tie Harding with Pittman (vs. Anderson, 1/13/2016) for the most in a game this season.... This was LMU's sixth-ever double overtime contest and the third this season.... They are 4-2 all time in those games.... LMU falls to 7-14 all-time against Wingate and 2-9 in Cuddy Arena.

Up Next
LMU continues their two-game road swing as they travel to Tusculum for a Wednesday night contest. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. in the Pioneer Arena. The Lady Railsplitters won 72-57 over the Pioneers in their first meeting this season on Jan. 21. Tusculum ccomes into the contest riding a two-game losing streak, losing at Anderson last Wednesday and earlier today at Lenoir-Rhyne. Live stats, video and links to the boradcast by the LMU Sports Network are available on LMURailsplitters.com.