HARROGATE, Tenn. – The No. 5/8 Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team travels to Hartsville, S.C. to open the second half of the South Atlantic Conference schedule as they face Coker in a Saturday matinee game. LMU defeated Coker 83-62 in the Tex Turner Arena on Dec. 3.

LMU is currently 16-0 overall and 11-0 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. Of the other three schools, Colorado State-Pueblo and Virginia Union play on Saturday. Top ranked Ashland is off until next Wednesday.

Currently, LMU sits atop the SAC standings with their 11-0 SAC record. There is a four-way tie for second between Anderson, Catawba, Carson-Newman and Wingate, all of whom have 8-3 records.

In their last game, LMU overcame a poor first half to grab the lead mid-way through the third quarter and pull away for the 83-71 win at Tusculum on Wednesday. The Lady Railsplitters shot 37.7 percent from the field for the game. Rebounding once again was squarely in LMU's favor as they out-rebounded the Pioneers 55-20.

Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) led LMU with 20 points and also 12 rebounds. It was her eighth double-double of the season. Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) had her fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) chipped in 19 points, while Sydnie Anderson (Cleveland, Tenn.) had 11. Tusculum's Kasey Johnson had a career-high 28 points in the loss. Benedicta Makakala added in 11 points.

Saturday's game will be video streamed live by Coker, and they will also be providing live stats. Links are available on www.lmurailsplitters.com. 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. COKER
· LMU won the prior meeting this season in the Tex Turner Arena 83-62 on Dec. 3.
· Coker comes into the game tied for ninth in the SAC with Tusculum. The Cobras have a 3-13 overall record and a 2-9 record in SAC play. Both of their SAC wins were on the road at Mars Hill and at Brevard.
· In the meeting in Harrogate on Dec. 3, LMU ran out a 16-4 run to start the game. Coker would make a run in the third quarter to cut it to eight but the Lady Railsplitters slammed the door and held on for the 83-62 win.
· After this game, the Lady Railsplitters will return home to face arch-rival Carson-Newman on Jan. 25. That game will be televised regionally on MyVLT.
 
SCOUTING LMU
· The current 16 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 and current Player of the Week Megan Pittman leads the team in scoring with an average of 15.1 points a game. She is second on the team in rebounding with 10.3 a game. Pittman is currently shooting 80.8% from the free throw line, which ranks her seventh in the SAC.  She is fourth in the SAC in total free throws and third in total rebounds (also third in offensive and defensive rebounds) and rebounds per game, sixth in blocks, seventh in points and 12th in steals.
· Junior Shea Coker is just behind Pittman in scoring with a 14.8 points per game average. She currently leads the SAC in 3-pt percentage, is fourth in field goal percentage, fifth in made three-pointers, seventh in made field goals, eighth in points and ninth in points per game.
· Senior Josey Harding currently leads the team and the SAC in rebounding and rebounds per game with 11.4 rebounds a game (Pittman is third, with Wingate's Marta Miscenko between them) and is fourth on the team in scoring with 8.0 points a game. She also currently ranks second in the SAC in offensive and defensive rebounds and 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 (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) is third on the team in scoring with 9.1 points a game. She currently is eighth in the SAC in 3-pt. percentage and assists and is third in assist to turnover ratio.
· 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 41.1 percent to 36.5 percent this season. They are outscoring their opponents by a 16.3 points per game margin.
· LMU is ranked third in the nation in three-point field goal percentage, fourth in rebound margin, fifth in rebounds per game and sixth in offensive rebounds
· The Lady Railsplitters are currently out-rebounding opponents by 11.6 rebounds a game. In the Krystal Evans era, LMU has outrebounded their opponents in 63 of the 74 games played.
· LMU enters the game with a program record of 836-480-1 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. It 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 876 career points. Harding has 619, Coker has 621, Anderson 317, Mathis 243 and Sims 207.
· Pittman has 696 career rebounds, and now is in fifth place in the LMU record book. She is 13 rebounds behind fourth-place Brandy Brown (1994-98).
· Pittman is now 18th all-time in made free throws with 209. She is 10 behind #17 Robin Cox (1992-96). She hasn't cracked the top-25 in free throw attempts yet, which translates to third place in career free throw percentage (81.3%).
· Pittman is also on the blocks list, where she is tied for 16^th with Jamie Jackson (2003-05) and Anita Nelums (1992-95) with 45 blocks. 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 660 rebounds and ranks eighth in career rebounds. She is four behind #7 Jill Breeden (1982-83) and 35 behind #5 Pittman.
· Harding is 15th all-time in made free throws (229). She trails 14th place Amanda Jackson (1997-01) by seven. She is tied for 12th in free throw attempts (323) and is eight behind Carrie Shoffner (1985-89).
· Harding is currently in fifth place on the all-time blocks list with 101. 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 13^th with 72 and trails #11 Ralissa Nelson (2011-13) and Leah Moore (2002-04) by two. Mathis is 17^th with 61 and trails #16 Mollie Cooper (1994-97) by seven.
 
LAST TIME VS. COKER
· In the meeting in Harrogate on Dec. 3, LMU ran out a 16-4 run to start the game. Coker would make a run in the third quarter to cut it to eight but the Lady Railsplitters slammed the door and held on for the 83-62 win.
· In that meeting Shea Coker led LMU with 20 points, Pittman had 13 points and 13 rebounds and Sims chipped in 12 points. Harding had 10 rebounds. The Cobras had three players in double figures, led by Sydney Shull with 18 points. Lindsey Adams and Iresha Cooper added in 14 each.
 
SERIES VS. COKER
· Coker leads the series 5-3.
· LMU holds a 2-3 record vs. Coker in the Tex Turner Arena. They are 1-2 in Hartsville.
· The only real blowout win in the series came in LMU's win in Harrogate on Dec. 6, 2014, when LMU won 69-48.
 
SCOUTING COKER
· The Cobras return seven letter winners off of last year's team.
· Kendra Lambert is the top returning scorer from last season and Terrika Foster is the top rebounder returning.
· Iresha Cooper leads all Cobra scorers, averaging 11.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
· Since playing LMU on Dec. 3, Coker has a 3-7 record.
· Coker coach Shannon Johnson enters the contest with a 12-32 career record. She is in her second season at Coker. Johnson was a standout at South Carolina and is an Olympic Gold Medalist (2004) and seven time WNBA All-Star. She also played in the ABL and internationally.
· Coker compiled a 9-19 record last season, finishing in 10th place in the SAC.