HARROGATE, Tenn. – The No. 5/6 LMU women's basketball stayed undefeated on the season as they grabbed the lead in the second quarter and never trailed again in the 72-65 South Atlantic Conference win over Carson-Newman Wednesday evening.

With the win, LMU continues their magical start to the season as they improve to 18-0 and 13-0 in the SAC. Currently they are ranked sixth in the latest WBCA/USA Today Division II Coaches' Poll and fifth in the D2SIDA National Media Poll.

Tonight's meeting marked the 91^st in the series, which dates back to the 1920s. The win also completes a season sweep of the Eagles as LMU picked up the 102-99 overtime win in Jefferson City on Nov. 22.

Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) led LMU with 23 points, one shy of her career high. She also had 10 rebounds. Dasia Maxwell (Knoxville, Tenn.) had a career-high 12 points and a team-high three steals. Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) added in 11 points while Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) had a game high eleven rebounds.

Kailyn Brooks led C-N with 21 points, including five three pointers. Briana Smith added in 12 points for the Eagles.

The Lady Railsplitters held the 49-33 advantage in rebounding. They also out-shot the Eagles 39.1%-to-38.7% from the field and 28.6%-to-27.8 percent from three-point range. Carson-Newman did slightly better at the free throw line than LMU, hitting 85.7% to LMU's 70.0%.

Carson-Newman ran out to the early 4-0 lead before LMU came back to tie the game at 6-6. Carson-Newman then took advantage of an LMU scoring drought to take a five point lead. The Lady Railsplitters would battle back and tie the game at 19-19 with 1:02 remaining, but the Eagles would hit two free throws late to lead 21-19 after the first stanza.

After swapping baskets, the Eagles would take a 26-23 lead with 5:43 left in the half. An Emily Griffith (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) jumper then sparked a 15-4 LMU run that closed out the half with the Blue and Gray leading 38-30 at the intermission.

The lead hovered around the 7-to-9 point range for most of the third quarter. A pair of three pointers in the last two minutes cut the lead to 52-51, but a three-pointer by Rachel Griffith (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) gave the Lady Railsplitters the 55-51 lead after three periods.

LMU would shoot out to the 60-54 lead in the fourth quarter before going on a nearly five minute scoring drought. Carson-Newman was unable to take advantage as the LMU defense held them to only six points during that stretch. Pittman then scored seven of LMU's next nine points to pull the Lady Railsplitters out to a 69-64 lead with 41 seconds remaining. Carson-Newman was unable to score on their next three possessions and free throws by Karsen Sims (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) and Maxwell sealed the deal as LMU picked up the 72-65 victory.

Next up for the Lady Railsplitters is Saturday meeting with Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory, North Carolina. LMU picked up a 73-51 win over the Bears in Harrogate on Nov. 30. Tip-off from Shuford Memorial Gymnasium is set for 2 p.m. and live stats, video and audio links are available on www.lmurailsplitters.com.