MARS HILL, N.C. -- The fifth-seeded Lady Railsplitters (16-11) aim to advance to the semifinals of the South Atlantic Conference Championship for the first time ever on Wednesday night when they travel to Mars Hill, N.C. to take on the fourth-seeded Mars Hill Lions (15-12) in quarterfinal round action at 7 p.m. The winner of that contest moves on to play the winner of No. 1 Anderson and No. 8 Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday at Furman's Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C.
 
Lincoln Memorial has qualified for the SAC tournament in all but one of its nine seasons in the league, but the Lady Railsplitters have yet to make it past the first round. Last season was another sad end in a series of disappointing quarterfinal round performances, as Lincoln Memorial's season ended in a 66-57 loss at Newberry. The Lady Railsplitters came closest to moving on to the semifinals in 2014, when they suffered an overtime loss to Anderson at Tex Turner Arena.
 
The Lady Railsplitters open postseason play fresh off of a 62-58 win over Catawba in the regular-season finale on Saturday at Tex Turner Arena. Lincoln Memorial trailed by eight points early in the fourth quarter, but used a 15-2 run to grab the lead for good and clinch the No. 5 seed for the SAC tournament. Kiara Rawls (Killeen, Texas) led the way with 14 points, while Britney Guy (Locust Grove, Ga.) had 13 points and Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) produced 10 points and seven boards.
 
Wednesday's SAC tournament bout is a rematch of one of the most thrilling games of the season, when the Lions visited the Lady Railsplitters back on February 17. After a back-and-forth fourth frame and with Lincoln Memorial trailing 66-64 with mere seconds left, Guy buried a desperation three-pointer from just inside of half court to beat the buzzer and send the Lady Railsplitters away with a 67-66 victory. Pittman led the Lady Railsplitters in that contest with 13 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists.
 
This season's first meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Mars Hill played out much differently, though, as the Lady Railsplitters were outscored 26-16 in the fourth quarter to suffer a 72-60 loss on Mars Hill's home court on January 6. LMU shot just 30.8 percent and went 4-for-17 (23.5 percent) from three-point range. Pittman had 15 points and 11 boards, while Cadence Wilmoth put up a triple-double with 15 points, 13 rebounds and 10 blocks to power the Lions.
 
Mars Hill ended the regular season with a 64-52 loss at Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday. In that contest, the Lions shot 33 percent and turned the ball over 19 times to suffer just their fifth loss of 2016. Still, the Lions finished in fourth place in the SAC standings, which is the program's highest league finish since the 2005-06 campaign. 
 
Five players play the bulk of the minutes and carry the load offensively for the Lions. Seniors Ansley Ricker (15.5 points, 3.1 rebounds per game, 40.9 percent), Cadence Wilmoth (14.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks per game) and Kelsey Espinosa (10.9 points, 6.8 rebounds per game) headline that group. Paige Chavis is also averaging 10.9 points per game to go along with 4.4 rebounds per appearance. Genice Lane is contributing 9.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
 
Mars Hill gets to the free-throw line at a higher rate than any other team in the South Atlantic Conference, leading the league with 17.1 makes and 23.9 attempts per game. Free-throw shooting played a key role in both of Lincoln Memorial's regular-season meetings against Mars Hill. The Lions went 16-for-18 at the stripe at Tex Turner Arena as compared to a 6-for-11 effort for the Lady Railsplitters. In the road game, Mars Hill went 30-for-35 and the Lady Railsplitters made just 8-of-10 free-throw attempts.
 
Including the two meetings this season, the Lady Railsplitters are 14-11 all-time against Mars Hill with a 5-7 record on the road. Lincoln Memorial and Mars Hill have never met in the postseason. The Lady Railsplitters will be looking to win in Mars Hill for the first time since 2013.
 
In order to make an extended postseason run, the Lady Railsplitters must find a way to shoot more efficiently. Since the calendar flipped to February, LMU has shot above 40 percent in just one of its eight games, coincidentally in that 67-66 win over Mars Hill. Three-point shooting has been a huge factor in Lincoln Memorial's inefficiencies, as the Lady Railsplitters are shooting 22.8 percent from deep over the last eight games. LMU has failed to shoot better than 37 percent in either of its last three games.
 
Lincoln Memorial's SAC quarterfinal round game against Mars Hill tips off at 7 p.m. Live stats and video links are available at www.LMURailsplitters.com.