HARROGATE, Tenn. – The No. 5/8 Lady Railsplitter basketball team closes out the first half of the South Atlantic Conference schedule as they make the short trip to Tusculum for a Wednesday evening tilt.

LMU is currently 15-0 overall and 10-0 in SAC play coming into the game. They are currently ranked fifth in the latest D2SIDA National Media Poll and eighth 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 Wednesday as Colorado State-Pueblo plays Colorado Christian Tuesday evening. Virginia Union plays on Wednesday and Ashland plays Thursday.

Currently, LMU sits atop the SAC standings with their 10-0 SAC record. Anderson is second with an 8-2 record and Catawba and Wingate are tied for third with 7-3 records.

In their last game, the top two teams in the SAC slugged it out for 36 minutes before LMU pulled away late to beat Catawba 70-66. Both teams shot 36.1 percent from the field, LMU held a slight 40.0%-to-36.4% in three point percentage and Catawba out-shot LMU at the charity stripe 77.8%-to-62.5%. For the second straight contest LMU dominated one of the top rebounding teams in the SAC in rebounding, this time by a 52-38 margin.

Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) led LMU with 22 points and also 16 rebounds. It was her seventh double-double of the season. Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) added in 10 rebounds. Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) chipped in 16 points, while Karsen Sims (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) had nine. Catawba's Bri Johnson, the leading scorer in the SAC, had 32 points, including six three pointers, in the loss. Terri Rogers added in 10 points.

Wednesday's game will be video streamed live on the LMU Sports Network, and Tusculum will be providing live stats and a video stream. 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. TUSCULUM
· This is the first meeting between the two schools this season. The Pioneers will visit the Tex Turner Arena on Feb. 8.
· LMU was picked 5th in the pre-season coaches poll and Tusculum was picked 8th.
· Tusculum comes into the game with a 3-11 overall record and a 2-8 record in SAC play. Their SAC wins were a nine point win over Coker and a ten point win at Mars Hill.
· In last year's meeting in Harrogate on Jan. 21, 2016, Tusculum took a two point lead twice in the early minutes of the first quarter before LMU grabbed the lead on a Ross Mathis (Greer, SC) three-pointer and never looked back in the 72-57 win. Shea Coker and Britney Guy led LMU with 16 points each, while Mathis chipped in 12 points.
· After this game, the Lady Railsplitters will make their longest trip of the season to Hartsville, SC for a Saturday meeting with the Coker Cobras. LMU defeated Coker in Harrogate 83-62 back on Dec. 3. Coker is currently in tenth place in the SAC.
 
SCOUTING LMU
· The current 15 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.
· The win over Catawba on Saturday made LMU the first team in SAC WBB history to start off the conference schedule 10-0. Presbyterian previously held the record, starting 9-0 in the 1999-2000 season before losing to Catawba in the tenth SAC game.
· Senior All-SAC performer and current Player of the Week Megan Pittman leads the team, averaging 14.9 points a game. She is second on the team in rebounding with 10.1 a game. Pittman is currently shooting 79.7% from the free throw line, which ranks her eighth in the SAC.  She is third in the SAC in total free throws and total rebounds (second in offensive and fourth in defensive) and rebounds per game, fifth in blocks, seventh in points and 11th in steals.
· Junior Shea Coker is just behind Pittman in scoring with a 14.5 points per game average. She currently leads the SAC in 3-pt percentage, is third in field goal percentage, fifth in made three-pointers, seventh in made field goals and tenth in points and points per game.
· Senior Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) currently leads the team and the SAC in rebounding and rebounds per game with 11.1 rebounds a game (Pittman is third, with Wingate's Marta Miscenko between them) and is fourth on the team in scoring with 7.5 points a game. She also currently ranks second in the SAC in defensive rebounds, and third in offensive rebounds, fourth in free throws, 12^th in free throw percentage and 13^th in blocks. 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 is third on the team in scoring with 9.5 points a game. She currently is seventh in the SAC in 3-pt. percentage, is third in assist to turnover ratio and tenth in assists.
· Rachel Griffith (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) ranks seventh in the SAC in steals and is ranked nationally in steals and steals per game.
· LMU is outshooting their opponents 41.3 percent to 35.8 percent this season. They are outscoring their opponents by a 16.6 points per game margin.
· LMU is ranked third in the nation in three-point field goal percentage.
· The Lady Railsplitters are currently out-rebounding opponents by 10.1 rebounds a game. In the Krystal Evans era, LMU has outrebounded their opponents in 62 of the 73 games played. They are ranked seventh nationally in rebound margin and eighth in rebounds per game.
· LMU enters the game with a program record of 835-480-1 in 75 seasons of competition.
 
LMU IN THE RANKINGS
· The Lady Railsplitters are ranked eighth in the latest WBCA/USA Today Top 25 Coaches' Poll.
· The team is ranked in the D2SIDA National Media Poll at the No. 5 spot.  This is the highest the team has ever been ranked in any poll in program history. Is also the highest any SAC team has been ranked in the media poll, which was started in 2014.
· 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 859 career points. Harding has 604, Coker passed the 600 point mark and currently has 602, Anderson 306, Mathis 236 and Sims 204.
· Pittman has 684 career rebounds, and now is in fifth place in the LMU record book. She is four rebounds 25 behind fourth-place Brandy Brown (1994-98).
· Pittman is now 18th all-time in made free throws with 205. She is 14 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 (81.0%).
· Pittman is also on the blocks list, where she is tied for 16^th with Jamie Jackson (2003-05) and Anita Nelums (1992-95). Pittman is five behind 15^th place Pam Walters (1989-93).
· 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 645 rebounds and ranks ninth in career rebounds. She is 11 behind #8 Robin Adams (1987-90) and 39 behind #5 Pittman.
· Harding is 16th all-time in made free throws (224). She trails 15th place Melinda Godfrey (1996-98) by two. She is 15th in free throw attempts (313) and is five 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 15^th with 69 and trails #13 Amanda Jackson (1997-01) and Sara Wood (1998-02) by three. Mathis is tied for 17^th with Celine Cloutier (1994-96) with 60 and trails #16 Mollie Cooper (1994-97) by eight.
 
LAST TIME VS. TUSCULUM
· The last meeting vs. Tusculum was in Greeneville on Feb. 10, 2016. The Pioneers were hot early on as they rolled out to a 13 point lead just before halftime. In the third quarter, LMU came out and steadily chipped into the lead before grabbing the lead for good on a pair of free throws by Rachel Griffith at the end of the period. The Lady Railsplitters then got hot and outscored TC 24-16 in the fourth period to claim the 70-61 win. Pittman led the way with 22 points and 16 rebounds. Three Pioneers scored in double figures, led by Shynese Whitener with 23 points.
 
SERIES VS. TUSCULUM
· This is the second longest series in program history, with this being the 69^th meeting in the series. LMU leads the series 40-28. The two teams have been in a conference together for most of the 39 year history of the series, and are tied as conference opponents 21-21.
· LMU holds a 23-11 record vs. TC in Harrogate (14-7 in the Tex Turner Arena) and a 17-17 record in Greeneville.
· While the Arena was dedicated several days later, the first actual game in Pioneer Arena was LMU vs. Tusculum on Jan. 14, 1998. LMU won 77-58.
 
SCOUTING TUSCULUM
· Tusculum returns 8 players from last year's team, including three starters.
· Kasey Johnson is the top returning scorer and rebounder from last season.
· Johnson is currently leading the team in scoring with 13.7 ppg and rebounding with 8.1 rpg.
· Maelyn Head is second on the team in scoring with 9.7 rebounds a game.
· Head coach Devan Carter is in his second season as the women's coach at Tusculum. He took over the reins at the start of last season on an interim basis and was officially named the head coach after the season. His career record is 16-23, all at Tusculum.