HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team had six players score in double figures and never trailed as they cruised to the 107-62 win over Mars Hill in South Atlantic Conference action Monday evening.
With the win, LMU improves to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in SAC play. The Lions fall to 1-9 and 0-3 in the SAC with the loss.
Shea Coker led the way for the Lady Railsplitters with 16 points off of 7-12 shooting from the field and 2-4 shooting from three-point range.
Kyndall Caudle had a career-high 11 points while
Qua Hines tied her career high with 11 points as well.
Emily Griffith also chipped in 11 points.
Rachel Griffith and
Karsen Sims each scored 10 points apiece. Hines and
Shermeria Quarles both led LMU with six rebounds apiece, while
Maggie Jachimczuk,
Elizabeth Jones,
Cameryn DuBose and
Sydney Duggins each pulled down five boards.
LMU dominated in almost every statistical category as they hit an even 50 percent (38-76) from the field, 34.6 percent (9-26) from three-point range and 84.6 percent (22-26) from the free throw line. They had 54 rebounds to Mars Hill's 34 and their bench outscored the Lions' bench 60-18.
The Lions were led by Maria Johnson's 16 points while Tiffany Holloway led all players with seven rebounds. They hit a cold 28.3 percent (17-60) from the field for the game and a similar percentage (28.6) from three-point range.
Jachimczuk put LMU ahead 2-0 after Coker passed to her in the paint and she made a juke move and scored with 8:30 left in the first quarter. A pair of Lion free throws would tie the game on the next possession. After baskets by
Emily Griffith and Sims gave LMU a four point lead, a trey by MHU's Valeriya Pokrovskaya cut the lead to one with 7:22 remaining before a Sims jumper sparked an 11-1 LMU run that put the Lady Railsplitters ahead 17-6. The Lions would cut it to nine but the Lady Railsplitters would extend the lead to 34-17 at the end of the first quarter.
The Lady Railsplitters would add to the lead in the second stanza, going ahead by 20 on a pair of DuBose free throws mid-way through the quarter and by 24 with 14 second left on a pair of Jones free throws. They led 51-30 at the half.
A free throw by
Emily Griffith with 7:17 left would extend the lead to 31. LMU head coach
Krystal Evans then began to go deep into the bench after the media timeout, and the Lady Railsplitters didn't miss a beat as they extended the lead to 78-42 with 2:02 remaining in the period. The Lions would cut the lead to 80-49 at the end of the period.
Mars Hill cut the lead to 82-55 with 7:34 left in the contest before
Brianna Marsh stopped the run with her first career points at the 7:25 mark. Marsh would later put LMU ahead by 40, 98-58, a few minutes later. A steal and a lay-up by
Dasia Maxwell put LMU at the century mark for the first time this season, 100-60, with 2:40 remaining. The Lady Railsplitters would score seven more points down the stretch to coast to the 107-62 victory.
Quick Hits
- LMU improves to 18-11 all-time vs. Mars Hill and 10-4 vs. the Lions in the Tex Turner Arena. It is also LMU's largest margin of victory in the series.
- This is the third time that LMU has gone over the century mark in the
Krystal Evans era and is the highest point total of the Evans era. The other two times were a 100-90 win over Mars Hill in Harrogate on Nov. 19, 2014 (which happened to be Evans' home debut) and at Carson-Newman last season, when LMU won 102-99 on the back of Josey Harding's SAC record 27 rebounds.
- The win was LMU's 258th in the Turner Arena. They have now played 350 games there since Feb. 2, 1991.
Up Next
LMU will play their second game in three days as Wingate comes to town for a Wednesday evening tilt. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. in the Tex Turner Arena. The Bulldogs enter the game tied for first in the SAC with Carson-Newman (although the Eagles are listed first due to more SAC games played). They currently have a 7-1 record and a 2-0 record in SAC play. Their lone loss was at Lander on Nov. 21.
