HARROGATE, Tenn. – The LMU women's basketball team closes out a two-game road swing and opens South Atlantic Conference play when they make the short trip to Tusculum College Wednesday evening. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. in Pioneer Arena.

LMU enters the game with a 3-2 record after picking up the 74-61 win at King on Nov. 21. Tusculum comes into the game having one of their best starts in years as they have a 5-1 record. The only common opponent is King, whom Tusculum defeated 96-60 on Nov. 11. Both teams are ranked in the latest D2SIDA Regional Poll, with LMU ranked seventh and the Pioneers eighth.

Links to live stats and video of the game above or on www.lmurailsplitters.com. You can also hear the game on 91.3 WLMU locally or at www.913thegap.com.

In their win at King, LMU saw the Tornado take the early lead but ended up outscoring them 14-5 to close out the half and cruise to the 74-61 win. Shea Coker had 15 points, while Karsen Sims and Rachel Griffith chipped in 13 points apiece. Emily Griffith added in 10 points. Coker and Addi Kirkpatrick both led the team with six rebounds each.

SCOUTING TUSCULUM
· The Pioneers are off to their best start since the 2012-13 season, when they also started 5-1 before falling at Winston Salem State. They also started 5-1 in 2011-12 and 6-1 in 2009-10. Their best start of their NCAA era was in 2008-09, when they rolled out to a 14-1 start before falling at Carson-Newman 90-87.

· Devan Carter is in his second full season as the head of the Pioneers. He was an interim head coach in the 2015-16 season. His overall record at Tusculum is 19-32.

· The Pioneers had a lot of youth on their team last season, and it showed in their 6-20 record. Many of those losses were close, including a 66-65 loss to then 8th-ranked LMU in the Tex Turner Arena on Feb. 8.

· The team is rolling offensively, averaging 82.3 points a game. Defensively they are holding opponents to 63.5 points a game. They are out-rebounding opponents by a 42.0-39.2 margin.  

· Four players for the Pioneers are currently averaging in double-digits in scoring, led by Kasey Johnson's 13.2 ppg. Sydney Wilson is averaging 12.7, Yolizma Cupidan 12.2 and Lovely Locklear 11.8. Maddie Sutton and Martoria Patton are the leading rebounders with 6.5 per game apiece, followed by Johnson with 5.8 a game.

SERIES HISTORY
· This is the second-oldest active series for the Lady Railsplitters, who have played King 70 times since the 1978 season and have a 42-28 record against them. The teams have played more times, but no extant records of the dates/scores are known. One longtime history professor at LMU (over 40 years) was Jane Lotspeich, who played for the Pioneers in the 1920s and mentioned playing LMU several times.

· The teams were both members of the Volunteer State Athletic Conference and Tennessee Valley Athletic Conference in the 1970s and 1980s before LMU joined the NCAA Division II. Tusculum moved to Division II a few years later and the teams played a few times over that period before LMU joined the SAC in 2006.

· In the last meeting, LMU overcame 15 turnovers and poor shooting to eke out the 66-65 win over the Pioneers in Harrogate. Megan Pittman had an impressive outing for LMU with 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Shea Coker scored 13 points and Sydnie Anderson added in 11 points. Kasey Johnson led TC with 20 points and nine rebounds. The game was a back and forth affair with Tusculum taking the 65-64 lead with a little over a minute left. Pittman drew a foul with 13 seconds left and hit both free throws to regain the lead. Tusculum then missed a shot and fouled Josey Harding when she grabbed the rebound. She missed both free throws but the Pioneers were out of time outs and unable to advance the ball to midcourt, which came into play as they were forced to heave a desperation shot at the buzzer which fell short and LMU held on for the win.

· In the last meeting in Greeneville on Jan. 18, 2017, LMU used a third quarter run to break open a close game and pull out the 83-71 lead and improve to 16-0 on the season. Megan Pittman and Josey Harding both had double-doubles for the contest, with Pittman having 20 points and 12 rebounds while Harding had 15 points and 15 boards. Shea Coker also chipped in 19 points, 14 of those coming in the second half. Kasey Johnson had a career night as she led the Pioneers with 28 points. LMU out-rebounded Tusculum 55-20.

SCOUTING LMU
· Head Coach Krystal Evans is in her fourth season at LMU. She has a 62-34 overall record.

· Shea Coker is currently leading the team in scoring (both two- and three-point) and rebounding, with a 19.2 points and 6.6 rebounds a game average. She currently leads the SAC in three-point percentage and is third in points per game and offensive rebounds. Emily Griffith is second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.2 points a game. Maggie Jachimczuk is second on the team in rebounding, pulling down 4.2 a game.

· As a team, LMU ranks first in the SAC in offensive rebounds per game, third in rebound margin, fourth in points per game and rebounds per game. They rank fifth in three-point percentage, made free throws and blocks per game.

· LMU also ranks fourth in the NCAA in offensive rebounds per game, 20th in rebounds per game and 48th in turnovers forced. Shea Coker is ranked in nine national categories, including 14th in three-point percentage.

RECORD WATCH
· POINTS –Shea Coker is making a run at joining the 1,000 point club as she currently has 912 points. She has now cracked the top 25 in the career scoring ranks, trailing 24th place Brandy Brown (1994-98) by 33 points.

· FIELD GOALS – Coker ranks 23rd on the made field goals list with 353. She trails Karra Jackson (1998-02) on this list by ten field goals. She also ranks 15th in career field goal percentage, hitting 48.3 percent of her field goals.

· THREE-POINTERS - Coker is tied for seventh in made treys (along with Stephanie Wagner (2007-09)) with 105 and is the ninth Lady Railsplitter with 100 or more career three-pointers. She trails sixth-place Kara Harris (2007-09) by nine. Coker is also 13th on the three-point attempts list with 238, and is first on the 3-pt percentage list with a .441 percentage. Ross Mathis is 12th in made treys with 86 and trails #11 Katrina Ottesen (2013-15) by three. She is 8th on the attempts list with 259 and ranks 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 27th with Natasha Davis (1996-2000)) and Sydney Duggins (43rd). Rachel Griffith is tied for 44^th and currently trails her cousin (Duggins) by one.

· ASSISTS – Ross Mathis ranks 36th in career assists with 139 and trails Kate Fane (2005-08) by one. Karsen Sims is tied for 45th on the list with 126 assists with Sherry Chapman (1986-88). She trails Shawna Nichols (2007-08) by one.