HARROGATE, Tenn. – The No. 24/12 Lady Railsplitters seek to continue their winning ways as they make the short trip up the Powell Valley to face UVa-Wise Wednesday evening in a renewal of the series between the two schools, which are only 67 miles apart.

UVa-Wise will be providing both live stats and video of the game and those links can be found above or on www.lmurailsplitters.com.

The team is currently ranked 24^th in the WBCA Preseason Top 25 Coaches' Poll and 15^th in the D2SIDA National media poll.

LMU enters the contest with a 1-1 record after falling 65-60 to Lander in the season opener before rebounding to cruise past USC Aiken 79-63 Saturday afternoon.

Against Lander the Lady Railsplitters had a double-digit lead at the half, only to see cold shooting and turnovers allow Lander to come back and tie the game at the half. Their shooting woes continued in the third and fourth quarters as LMU shot 28.1 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from three point range. Shea Coker led the way with 14 points while Rachel Griffith chipped in 12. Dasia Maxwell had a career-high eight rebounds, while LMU had a 50-37 advantage in that category.

In Saturday's game, LMU never trailed in a 79-63 victory over USC Aiken. Shea Coker finished one point shy of tying her career high as she posted 24 points. Emily Griffith had nine points and Maggie Jachimczuk had eight. Jachimczuk also had a team-high 10 rebounds. For the contest, LMU shot 40.8% from the field, 40.0% from three-point range and 56.5 percent from the free throw line. They out-rebounded the Pacers 45-37.

SCOUTING WISE
· The Cavs enter the game with a 0-2 record, having lost to Millersville 56-47 and Edinboro 68-56 over the weekend.

· Interim Head Coach Elise Clyburn is in her first season of coaching. She was an assistant on last year's UVa-Wise team.

· Wise went 21-11 last season and finished third in the Mountain East, their highest finish ever in the school's NCAA Division II era. Common opponents last year were Tusculum (Wise won 63-58), Lees-McRae (68-46, Wise) and King (60-56, King). The only common opponent on this year's schedule is King.

· Graduation losses hit Wise hard as they lost three 1,000 point players. They do have three starters returning.

· Freshman Hanna Oliver currently leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.5 points a game. Sophomore Cyntia Webb is averaging a double-double of 11.5 points and 13.5 rebounds a game. Bianca Lockamy is third on the team in scoring, averaging 6.5 points a game while Kalee Johnson is second in rebounding with 5.5 boards a game.

SERIES HISTORY
· This is the first meeting between the two schools since the 2001-02 season.

· LMU leads the all-time series 19-4. They are 12-1 against the Cavs in Harrogate and 7-3 in Wise. All of the wins in Wise came in the old Greear Gym as this is the first time LMU will play the Cavs in the Prior Convocation Center. All four losses to UVa-Wise came in the 1970s, with the last one being on Dec. 4, 1978 in Wise.
 
· Despite the 19-4 series record, this is only the fourth time that LMU and the University of Virginia's College at Wise have played each other in women's basketball. UVa-Wise was known as Clinch Valley College from the school's founding in the 1950s until 1999.

· In the last meeting between the two schools on Nov. 29, 2001, a 23 point performance by Wise's Lauren Carr was not enough as LMU improved to 4-1 on the season with the 90-66 wire-to-wire win over the Cavs. Karra Jackson led LMU with 15 points, followed by Hillary Ross with 13 and Ashley Cox had 10.

· In their last game in Wise, Karra Jackson put in 14 points and dished out seven assists as the Lady Railsplitters dominated Wise 99-54 on Nov. 22, 2000. Christy Wiseman chipped in 13 points and Dawn Skelcher had 10 points and seven assists as well for LMU. Hillary Ross had 10 rebounds and six points in limited action before going out with an injury in the second half, spoiling a double-double opportunity for the eventual career leader in that category at LMU. Lauren Carr and Mandy Sexton had 13 points apiece for the Cavs.

· The UVa-Wise mascot, Smiddy, is named after an alumnus of LMU. Dr. Joseph Smiddy (or Papa Joe) graduated from LMU in 1948 and joined the faculty of Clinch Valley College when the school opened in 1954. He became the school's first Chancellor in 1968 and held that post for more than three decades and was named Chancellor Emeritus. Smiddy, who was awarded honorary doctorates from four institutions (including LMU), was also a member of the Board of Trustees at LMU and was named Trustee Emeritus when he retired from the board. For many years he has awarded a scholarship in honor of his wife, Rosebud, whom he met at LMU. His last public appearance was this past April, when he awarded the scholarship at LMU's annual Awards Night. He passed away a week later at the age of 96.

SCOUTING LMU
· Head Coach Krystal Evans is in her fourth season at LMU. She has a 60-33 overall record.

· One of the key stats for the team in the Krystal Evans era is rebounding. During her tenure, LMU has only been out-rebounded by their opponents in 13 out of 93 games. The team currently leads the SAC in offensive rebounds per game (23.5) and is third in both total rebounds and rebound margin.

· Three-point shooting is another hallmark of recent LMU teams, with LMU being amongst the national leaders last season. Dasia Maxwell currently leads the SAC in three-point percentage and Shea Coker is fourth.

· Shea Coker is currently ranked fifth in the SAC in scoring.

RECORD WATCH
· POINTS – Shea Coker currently has 854 points and ranks 28th in the career scoring ranks, trailing Melinda Godfrey (1996-98) and Heather Brown (1993-97) by 26.

· FIELD GOALS – Coker ranks at 25th on the made field goals list with 330. She trails Laura Winters (1988-92) on this list by seven field goals. She also ranks 15th in career field goal percentage, hitting 47.8 percent of her field goals.

· THREE-POINTERS - Coker is 9th in made treys with 98 and is on pace to become only the ninth Lady Railsplitter with 100 or more career three-pointers. She trails eighth-place Ashley Cox (1998-02) by four. Coker is also 14th on the three-point attempts list with 224, and is first on the 3-pt percentage list with a .438 percentage. Ross Mathis is 12th in made treys with 89 and trails #11 Katrina Ottesen (2013-15) by six. She is 10th on the attempts list with 250 and 12th on the percentage list with 33.2%. Also ranked in the top 50 on the made three-pointer list are Karsen Sims (tied for 29^th with former teammate Sydney Anderson) and Sydney Duggins (43rd). Rachel Griffith is currently tied for 47th place.

· ASSISTS – Ross Mathis ranks 38th in career assists with 136 and trails Bridget Long (1990-94) by one and Kara Harris (2007-09) by two. Karsen Sims is 53rd on the list with 118 assists, trailing Kim Hopkins (1985-87), Robin Adams (1987-90) and Megan Pittman (2014-17) by two.