HARROGATE, Tenn. – The No. 4/5 Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team seeks to reach the 20-win plateau for the first time in 13 years as they face off against Brevard in South Atlantic Conference action Wednesday evening. LMU swept away the Tornados 94-65 in Harrogate back on Dec. 5.

LMU is currently 19-0 overall and 14-0 in SAC play coming into the game. They are currently ranked fourth in the latest D2SIDA National Media Poll and fifth in the WBCA/USA Today NCAA Division II Coaches Poll. The 14-0 start in SAC play is the best start by any women's basketball team in the history of the conference.

LMU's last 20-win season came in the 2003-04 season. That team went 21-8, losing to Henderson State in the Gulf South Conference Tournament semifinals.

The team is one of only three undefeated teams remaining in the NCAA Division II. Of the other two schools, Ashland defeated Tiffin Monday evening and will play at Ohio Dominican on Thursday while Colorado State-Pueblo hosts Adams State Friday evening.

Currently, LMU sits atop the SAC standings with their 14-0 SAC record. There is a tie for second between Anderson and Wingate as each have 11-3 records. Catawba and Carson-Newman are tied for fourth with 10-4 records.

In their last game at Lenoir-Rhyne, the host Bears came out on fire, hitting all six of their first six shots and leading for most of the first half. LMU would keep it close and out-score L-R 20-6 in the fourth quarter to roll out to the 77-57 win.

Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) and Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) led LMU with 19 points each, while Pittman also led all players and notched season double-double no. 10 with 12 rebounds. Sydney Duggins (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) set a new career high with 12 points. Justyce Swango and Brooke Robinson led L-R with 13 points apiece.

Wednesday's game will be video streamed by Brevard, and they will be providing live stats. Links to those are available at the top of this page or 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. BREVARD
· LMU won the prior meeting this season, 94-65, in the Tex Turner Arena. The win by LMU eclipsed a stellar effort by BC senior Madison Lenox, who had 31 points for the Tornados.
· Brevard comes into the game in twelfth place in the SAC with a 5-13 overall record and a 1-13 record in SAC play.
· The Tornados are facing a perfect storm of sorts as injuries and the transition to Division III next season (and the accompanying scholarship reductions) have taken their toll on the roster.
· After this game, the Lady Railsplitters will host Wingate on Saturday in a nationally televised contest. The Bulldogs are (at the time of this writing) tied for second place in the SAC and are riding a four game win streak. The game will be broadcast on the American Sports Network and will be available on NCAA.com.
 
SCOUTING LMU
· The current 19 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 at Lenoir-Rhyne was Coach Krystal Evans' 50 career win.
· Senior All-SAC performer Megan Pittman leads the team in scoring with an average of 15.7 points a game. She is second on the team in rebounding with 9.9 a game. Pittman is currently shooting 81.4% from the free throw line, which ranks her seventh in the SAC.  She is now second in the SAC in total free throws and third all rebounding categories, fourth in points, sixth in blocks and tenth in steals.
· Junior Shea Coker is second on the team in scoring with a 14.3 points per game average. She currently leads the SAC in 3-pt percentage, is fourth in field goal percentage, seventh in made field goals and made three-pointers, 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 11.2 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 offensive and defensive rebounds and fifth in free throws, 12th in free throw percentage and 16th 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 8.5 points a game. She currently is fourth in the SAC in 3-pt. percentage and assist to turnover ratio and is 11th in assists.
· Rachel Griffith (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) ranks 11th in the SAC in steals and is ranked nationally in steals and steals per game.
· As a team, LMU ranks first in the SAC in 3-pt. percentage, all free throw categories, offensive rebounds per game and total rebounds per game. They rank second in opponents' three-point percentage, rebound margin, defensive rebounds, field goals made, FG attempts, points and points per game.
· LMU is outshooting their opponents 41.1 percent to 37.1 percent this season. They are outscoring their opponents by a 16.0 points per game margin.
· LMU is ranked second in the nation in three-point field goal percentage and sixth in rebound margin, rebounds per game and offensive rebounds. They are 17th in scoring margin and scoring offense.
· The Lady Railsplitters are currently out-rebounding opponents by 10.5 rebounds a game. In the Krystal Evans era, LMU has outrebounded their opponents in 66 of the 77 games played.
· LMU enters the game with a program record of 839-480-1 in 75 seasons of competition.
 
LMU IN THE RANKINGS
· The Lady Railsplitters are ranked fifth in the latest WBCA/USA Today Top 25 Coaches' Poll.        
· The team is ranked in the D2SIDA National Media Poll at the No. 4 spot. This is the highest the team has ever been ranked in any poll in program history.
· The fourth-place ranking is the highest any SAC team has been ranked in the media poll, which was started in 2014 and ties the highest ranking by a SAC team in conference history. The other team? Former SAC member Presbyterian, who was ranked fourth in the coaches' poll for two weeks in February, 2000.
· The fifth-place ranking this week ties the highest ranking by a current SAC team in the coaches' poll with Tusculum, who were ranked fifth the week of Jan. 13, 2009.
· 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
· POINTS - Megan Pittman currently has 933 career points, ranking her 24^th. She trails #23 Brandy Brown (1994-98) by 12 points. Coker has 657, Harding has 634, Anderson 338, Mathis 252 and Sims 223.
· REBOUNDS - Pittman has 721 career rebounds, and now is in fourth place in the LMU record book. She is 12 rebounds behind third-place Robin Cox (1992-96).
· 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 690 rebounds and ranks sixth in career rebounds. She is 19 behind #5 Brown and trails Pittman by 24.
· FREE THROWS - Harding is 15th all-time in made free throws (232). She trails 14th place Amanda Jackson (1997-01) by four. She is 12th in free throw attempts (330) and is one behind Carrie Shoffner (1985-89).
· Pittman is now 16th all-time in made free throws with 229. She is three behind #15 Josey Harding. She is in 21st place in free throw attempts with 281, which translates to third place in career free throw percentage (81.5%).
· THREE-POINTERS - Coker is 11th in made treys with 76 and trails former teammate #10 Katrina Ottesen (2013-15) by 13. Coker is also 18th on the three-point attempts list with 173, and first on the 3-pt percentage list with a .439 percentage. Mathis is 17th in made treys with 64 and trails #16 Mollie Cooper (1994-97) by four. She is 16th on the attempts list.
· BLOCKS - 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.
· Pittman is also on the blocks list, where she is 16^th with 47 blocks. Pittman is three behind 15^th place Pam Walters (1989-93).
 
LAST TIME VS. BREVARD
· The teams met in Harrogate on Dec. 5. LMU used a 16-2 run in the first quarter to take the double-digit lead and never looked back in the 94-65 win over the Tornados.  
· In that meeting Shea Coker led LMU with 18 points, Pittman had 16 points and nine rebounds. Rachel Griffith chipped in 13 points while twin sister Emily Griffith had 10. Madison Lenox led BC with 31 points.
 
SERIES VS. BC
· LMU leads the series 19-2. LMU has won the last eight meetings.
· LMU holds a 10-1 record vs. Brevard in Harrogate and they are 9-1 in Brevard.
· Unless the Tornados make the SAC Tournament, this will probably be the final meeting between the two schools. Brevard is currently re-classifying to Division III and this is their last year as a Division II member, meaning that next year they will play a D-III schedule.
 
SCOUTING BREVARD
· Brevard enters the game as ranked first in the SAC in made three-pointers and three-pointers per game. They are also fourth in free throw percentage.
· The Tornados are averaging 29.3 rebounds a game and are being out-rebounded by a margin of 11.3 per game.
· Madison Lenox leads the team in scoring with 20.9 points a game, followed by Lynsey Crisp with 10.3. Lenox leads the SAC in made field goals, defensive rebounds, points and points per game.
· Lenox is also their top rebounder, averaging 8.6 per game.