GREENEVILLE, Tenn. -- The Lady Railsplitters (13-8, 10-6 SAC) will attempt to sweep the season series from Tusculum for the first time in more than a decade on Wednesday night when they travel to Greeneville, Tenn. to take on the Pioneers (10-9, 8-8 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference action at 6 p.m.
 
Lincoln Memorial heads into Wednesday night fresh off of its third double-overtime game of 2016, as the Lady Railsplitters suffered an 83-74 double OT loss at Wingate on Saturday afternoon. LMU rallied from an 11-point third-quarter deficit and had two chances to win it in regulation, but both of Megan Pittman's (Liberty, Ky.) last-second, three-point tries missed the mark. The Lady Railsplitters were then down by three points late in the first overtime before Kiara Rawls (Killeen, Texas) buried a three-pointer to force a second overtime. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs opened that period on a 6-0 run and held LMU to just two points over that five-minute stretch to pull off the victory and sweep the season series. Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) put up 20 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, while Rawls notched 19 points.
 
The Lady Railsplitters, who shot a hair under 30 percent against Wingate, find themselves in a bit of shooting funk of late. Despite a 2-1 record over the last three games, Lincoln Memorial is shooting 38.2 percent from the field with a 12-for-43 mark (27.9 percent) from three. That can in many ways be attributed to the respective shooting woes of leading scorers Pittman and Britney Guy (Locust Grove, Ga.). Pittman is connecting on just 38 percent of her shots over the last three games, while Guy is 9-for-29 over that same span for a 31 percent mark.
 
Wednesday's match-up is not ideal for getting back on track offensively, as Tusculum is ranked third in the SAC in points per game allowed with 62.4 and leads the league in three-point field-goal defense with a 28.5 percent clip. In full, opponents are shooting a mere 38.7 percent against the stingy Pioneer defense this season.
 
Lincoln Memorial did, however, produce one of its better offensive performances of the season in the first meeting against Tusculum back on January 21 at Tex Turner Arena. In that contest, the Lady Railsplitters outscored the Pioneers 24-7 in the second quarter and shot 50.9 percent from the field to fuel a 72-57 win. Guy and Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) paced Lincoln Memorial with 16 points apiece, while Shynese Whitener scored a game-high 21 points on 9-of-27 shooting to lead the Pioneers.
 
That win gives the Lady Railsplitters the opportunity to do something that they haven't done since the 2004-05 campaign: sweep the season series from the Pioneers. Since joining the South Atlantic Conference before the 2006-07 campaign, Lincoln Memorial has never swept the season series from Tusculum and has defeated the Pioneers twice in a row on only one occasion. The Lady Railsplitters lead the all-time series 39-28 and have won four of the last six meetings, though.
 
Like Lincoln Memorial, Tusculum is in a bit of a funk offensively as well, as the Pioneers have failed to top the 60-point threshold in four of their last six games. In their last two appearances, the Pioneers shot 32.1 percent in a 72-52 beatdown at Anderson and 35 percent in a 71-59 loss at Lenoir-Rhyne.
 
Offense has been at the root of Tusculum's problems all season, though. The Pioneers are ranked ninth in the SAC in points per game (62.3), field goals made per game (23.4) and three-point field-goal percentage (29.5). Tusculum is relatively efficient aside from three-point shooting, ranking fourth in the league in overall field-goal percentage with a 41.5 percent clip.
 
Tusculum senior guard Shynese Whitener leads the SAC in points per game with 18.6, which she couples with 5.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 3.4 steals per game on 39.7 percent shooting. Freshman Kasey Johnson is contributing 11.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game with a 53.8 percent mark from the field, while Sydney Wilson is adding 10.7 points per game on 40.4 percent shooting. Maelyn Head is also averaging double figures with 10.5 points per game.
 
The Lady Railsplitters nearly rallied from a 21-point deficit late in the second half before losing last season's meeting in Greeneville 84-78. That was Lincoln Memorial's fourth loss at Tusculum in the last five trips. Coker and Rawls scored 16 points apiece to lead the LMU offense, while Whitener had 16 points for the Pioneers.
 
Tusculum is 6-4 at home this season. The Pioneers most recently knocked off Wingate and Catawba in their last two appearances in Greeneville.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday night. Live stats and audio links are available at www.LMURailsplitters.com, while fans can also listen along with Voice of the Railsplitters Rusty Peace at WLMU 91.3 The Gap.

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