GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – A gritty comeback by LMU from a 10 point fourth quarter deficit fell short as Tusculum pulled ahead in the final seconds for the 76-72 win Wednesday evening.

LMU falls to 3-3 on the season and 0-1 in South Atlantic Conference play. Tusculum improves to 6-1 and 1-0 in the SAC.

Emily Griffith and Shea Coker both led LMU with 18 points apiece, while Rachel Griffith and Karsen Sims each chipped in 10 points. Emily Griffith also led the Lady Railsplitters in rebounds with seven, followed by Addi Kirkpatrick with six. Coker and Dasia Maxwell pulled down five rebounds each.

Mia Long led the Pioneers with 23 points, while Martoria Patton chipped in 14 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

For the game, LMU hit 36.1% (26-72) from the field, 33.3% (4-12) from three-point range and 72.7% (16-22) from the free throw line. Tusculum would end the contest hitting 44.1% (26-59) from the field, 30.4% (7-23) from behind the arc and a cold 60.7% (17-28) from the charity stripe. The Lady Railsplitters would win the turnover battle by a 22-17 margin but be out-rebounded by the Pioneers 46-39.

The Pioneers came out hot early, shooting out to the 10-2 lead. A basket by Rachel Griffith and a Coker trey cut the lead to 11-7 with a little over five minutes left. LMU made a small run late in the quarter, cutting it to 16-15 as Sydney Newsome found Jachimczuk for the wide open layup with 44 seconds remaining. Long then scored five points for the Pioneers to close out the quarter and give the Pioneers the 21-15 lead.

Both teams came out in the second quarter at full speed as there were 47 combined possessions between the two teams during the frame. LMU came out with seven quick points, capped by a Rachel Griffith trey from the corner, to take the 22-21 lead. The teams would tie it up at 24-24 and the score would see-saw back and forth for the next several minutes with five ties and several lead changes before Tusculum would pull away in the last 1:30 to lead 42-35 at the half.   

LMU cut the lead to five to open the third quarter but a layup by Patton put the lead back at seven. A Sims three-pointer cut the lead to 46-42 at the 7:19 mark but the Pioneers answered back to put the lead back at seven. They then went on a 5-0 run to extend the lead to 11 points with less than two minutes left. A Jasmine Williams jumper would put the Pioneers ahead 60-47 with 53 seconds left before a basket and free throw by Emily Griffith cut the lead to 60-50 at the end of the third period.

The Lady Railsplitters would hold the Pioneers to only 21.4 percent shooting in the final frame and mount a furious comeback. Rachel Griffith got things going with the driving layup with 9:26 left to cut the lead to eight. They cut the lead to five following two Coker free throws only to see Tusculum score five quick points over the next 1:07 to put the lead back at 67-57. A Cameron DuBose layup then sparked a 9-1 run allowing the Lady Railsplitters to cut the lead to two, 68-66, with 4:32 remaining. The teams then traded baskets over the next three minutes, with Coker again cutting the lead to two with 1:04 left. LMU would have several chances down the stretch and the Pioneers would tack on two insurance free throws to hold on for the 76-72 victory.

Quick Hits
The loss was LMU's first at Pioneer Arena since the 2014-15 season. It is also LMU's first losing record in the SAC since the 2012-13 season.

Up Next
LMU returns home to host Catawba on Dec. 2. Catawba enters the game with a 3-3 record after defeating Queens 73-44 earlier tonight.