HARROGATE, Tenn. – The No. 6/9 Lady Railsplitter basketball team hosts Catawba Saturday afternoon in a meeting between two of the top teams in the South Atlantic Conference.

LMU is currently 14-0 overall and 9-0 in SAC play coming into the game, their third in six days. They are currently ranked sixth in the latest D2SIDA National Media Poll and ninth in the WBCA/USA Today NCAA Division II Coaches Poll.

The team is one of only four undefeated teams remaining in the NCAA Division II as of this writing. That may change by Saturday as Colorado State-Pueblo plays MSU-Denver Friday evening. The other two teams, Ashland and Virginia Union, both play on Saturday.

Currently, LMU sits atop the SAC standings with their 9-0 SAC record. Catawba, Anderson and Wingate are tied for second with 7-2 records after LMU defeated Anderson and Wingate defeated Catawba on Wednesday.

In their last game at Anderson, both teams struggled to find their offensive touch as LMU and Anderson both shot below 35 percent for the contest. Rebounding and free throws were the key as the Lady Railsplitters had their largest rebounding margin of the season, besting AU 55-38, and hit 70 percent of their free throw attempts to Anderson's 60 percent.

Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) led all scorers with 19 points and also had 11 rebounds. It was her sixth double-double of the season. Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) had her fourth double-double of the year as she had 18 points, including a 12-15 performance from the free throw line, and a game-high 23 rebounds. Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) chipped in 18 points. For the game, Anderson out-shot LMU 33.3%-to-29.2% from the field, while LMU held the advantage in three-point shooting 25.0%-to-18.8% and bested the Trojans at the free throw line 70.3%-to-60.7% . As mentioned above LMU dominated in rebounding 55-38.

Saturday's game will be video streamed live on the LMU Sports Network, and the Athletic Media Relations Office will be providing live stats. Fans listening on the radio can hear play-by-play with Rusty Peace on the LMU Sports Network at 91.3 WLMU-FM and online at www.913thegap.com.
 
LINCOLN MEMORIAL VS. CATAWBA
· This is the first meeting between the two schools this season. LMU will travel to Catawba for the regular season finale on Feb. 25.
· LMU was picked 5th in the pre-season coaches poll and Catawba was picked 6th.
· Catawba comes into the game with a 10-4 overall record and a 7-2 record in SAC play. Their SAC losses have come at Carson-Newman and at Wingate. LMU will be the second top ten team that Catawba has faced this season as they also played Virginia Union earlier this season. VU won 78-69 In Salisbury.
· In last year's meeting in Harrogate on Feb. 27, 2016, Catawba led for the first 33:31 of the contest before a jumper by Sydnie Anderson (Cleveland, Tenn.) tied the game for the first time with 6:29 remaining. Coker then drew a charge off of CC's Serena Brown and by Britney Guy gave LMU the lead 10 seconds later on a three-pointer. The Indians tied the game again with just under two minutes remaining, but free throws by Harding and Kiara Rawls down the stretch sealed the 62-58 victory for the Lady Railsplitters. Rawls had 14 points and Guy 13. Terri Rogers led CC with 20 points.
· After this game, the Lady Railsplitters will make the short trip to Greeneville for a Wednesday meeting with the Tusculum Pioneers. Tusculum is currently tied for ninth place in the SAC with Coker.
 
SCOUTING LMU
· The current 14 game win streak is the longest win streak during LMU's time in the NCAA and LMU's best start to a season in program history.
· Senior All-SAC performer Megan Pittman and Shea Coker are neck-and-neck for team-leading scorer honors with Pittman ahead by one point 202-201. Pittman currently is averaging 14.4 points a game and is second on the team in rebounding with 9.7 a game. She is currently shooting 80.0% from the free throw line, which ranks her ninth in the SAC.  She is third in the SAC in total free throws, fourth in total rebounds (second in offensive and fifth in defensive) and rebounds per game, fifth in blocks, seventh in points and tenth in steals.
· Junior Shea Coker is literally just one point behind Pittman in scoring and shares a 14.4 points per game average. She currently ranks second in the SAC in 3-pt percentage, third in field goal percentage, sixth in made field goals and made three-pointers, eighth in points and ninth in points per game. She also ranks 29^th nationally in field goal percentage.
· Senior Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) currently leads the team and the SAC in rebounding with 11.2 rebounds a game and is fourth in scoring with 7.9 points a game. She also currently ranks second in the SAC in defensive rebounds, and third in offensive rebounds, fourth in free throws, 11^th free throw percentage and 13^th in blocks. Harding ranks 12^th nationally in rebounds per game, 17^th in total rebounds and 20^th in offensive rebounds. She set a new SAC single-game rebound record with her 27 at Carson-Newman and with her 23 rebounds at Anderson she became the first LMU player, men or women, to have three 20+ rebound games.
· Karsen Sims (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) is third on the team in scoring with 9.6 points a game. She currently is fifth in the SAC in 3-pt. percentage, is third in assist to turnover ratio and tenth in assists.
· Rachel Griffith (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) ranks fifth in the SAC in steals and is ranked nationally in steals and steals per game.
· LMU is outshooting their opponents 41.7 percent to 35.8 percent this season. They are outscoring their opponents by a 17.5 points per game margin.
· LMU is ranked second in the nation in three-point field goal percentage and 24^th in made free throws.
· The Lady Railsplitters are currently out-rebounding opponents by 9.8 rebounds a game. In the Krystal Evans era, LMU has outrebounded their opponents in 61 of the 72 games played. They are ranked 10 nationally in rebound margin and eighth in rebounds
· LMU enters the game with a program record of 834-480-1 in 75 seasons of competition.
 
LMU IN THE RANKINGS
· The Lady Railsplitters are ranked ninth in the latest WBCA/USA Today Top 25 Coaches' Poll.
· The team is ranked in the D2SIDA National Media Poll at the No. 6 position.  This is the highest the team has ever been ranked in any poll in program history.
· LMU is also ranked first in the Southeast Region in the latest D2SIDA Media Poll, with 60 total points and all six first place votes.
 
RECORD WATCH
· Megan Pittman currently has 837 career points. Harding has passed the 600 point mark and currently has 602, Coker 586, Anderson 304 and Mathis 230.
· Pittman has 668 career rebounds, moving her past Jill Breeden (1982-86) to sixth-place in the LMU record book. She is four rebounds behind fourth-place MaRanda Boddie (2011-14) and 41 behind third-place Brandy Brown (1994-98).
· Pittman is now 18th all-time in made free throws with 202. She is 17 behind #17 Robin Cox (1992-96). She hasn't cracked the top-25 in free throw attempts yet, which translates to fourth place in career free throw percentage (81.1%).
· Harding's 27 rebounds against Carson-Newman On Nov. 22 set a new LMU and SAC record for rebounds in a game. She is also the only player in LMU history, men or women, to have consecutive 20+ rebound games and 3 or more 20+ rebound games.
· Harding currently has 635 rebounds and ranks ninth in career rebounds. She is 21 behind #8 Robin Adams (1987-90) and 33 behind #6 Pittman.
· Harding is 16th all-time in made free throws (220). She trails 15th place Melinda Godfrey (1996-98) by four. She is 15th in free throw attempts (309) and is nine behind Amanda Jackson (1997-01).
· Harding is currently in fifth place on the all-time blocks list with 100. She is the fifth player in LMU history to have 100 or more blocks.
· Shea Coker and Ross Mathis have moved into the top 20 in made three-pointers. Coker is 16^th with 67 and trails #15 Mollie Cooper (1994-97) by one three-pointer. Mathis is tied for 19^th with 58 and trails #18 Carolyn Mills (2009-10) by a three-pointer.
 
LAST TIME VS. CATAWBA
· The last meeting vs. Catawba was in Harrogate on Feb. 27, 2016, Catawba led for the first 33:31 of the contest before a jumper by Sydnie Anderson tied the game for the first time with 6:29 remaining. Coker then drew a charge off of CC's Serena Brown and by Britney Guy gave LMU the lead 10 seconds later on a three-pointer. The Indians tied the game again with just under two minutes remaining, but free throws by Harding and Kiara Rawls down the stretch sealed the 62-58 victory for the Lady Railsplitters. Rawls had 14 points and Guy 13. Terri Rogers led CC with 20 points.
 
SERIES VS. CATAWBA
· LMU trails Anderson in the series 11-9.
· LMU holds a 7-3 record vs. CAT in the Tex Turner Arena and a 2-8 record in Salisbury.
· The LMU single-game scoring record was set at Catawba on Jan. 20, 2010 as Dayshalee Salaman exploded for 44 points. LMU, however, lost the game 88-85.
 
SCOUTING CATAWBA
· Catawba returns 8 players from last year's SAC Championship team, including three starters.
· Bri Johnson is the top returning scorer and Terri Rogers the top returning rebounder from last season.
· Johnson is currently leading the team in scoring with 19.9 ppg, followed closely by Rogers with 19.3. Johnson is currently the top scorer in the SAC and is tops in free throws and second in free throw percentage. Rogers is fourth in the SAC in scoring.
· Rogers is the leading rebounder with 9.4 rebounds a game.
· Head coach Angie Morton is in her 14th season at Catawba. Prior to that she spent seven seasons at Pfeiffer where she also coached softball. Morton enters the game with a 218-168 record at Catawba and a 316-259 overall record.