HARROGATE, Tenn. – The LMU women's basketball team hits the road for their penultimate game before Christmas as they travel to Newberry for a Saturday matinee South Atlantic Conference contest.

LMU enters the game at 5-4 overall on the season and a 2-2 in the SAC following Wednesday's 67-64 buzzer-beating loss to 14th ranked Wingate.  The Lady Railsplitters are currently ninth the latest D2SIDA Regional Poll.

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 a contest between two evenly matched teams Wednesday evening, LMU held a late 64-61 lead with 16 seconds left. Wingate scored a three pointer to tie the game at eight seconds left and LMU took the ball the length of the court but was called for the offensive foul. The Bulldogs then inbounded the ball and hit a three-pointer as time expired to escape with the win. Qua Hines led LMU with 11 points and Cameryn DuBose had a game high eight rebounds.

SCOUTING NEWBERRY
· The Wolves are currently 5-5 overall and 1-3 in SAC play. The teams only have two common opponents in Wingate and King. Newberry lost to King 71-61 and Wingate 53-48.

· Sean Page is in his tenth season as the head coach at Newberry. Before coming to NC he spent two seasons at Brescia. His record at Newberry is 168-102 and his overall record is 206-129.

· The Wolves return 12 players from last season's 18-9 squad. They have five newcomers, including two collegiate transfers.

· The Wolves have three players averaging in double-digit scoring. Shelby Britten leads the team and is fourth in the SAC with 18.3 points per game. Meg Essex is averaging 16.5 points and Nicola Handreck averages 14.7 points a game. Essex leads the team in rebounding by a large margin with her 9.1 rebound per game average. The next closest player, Regan McCarty, is averaging 5.6 rebounds per game.

· As a team, Newberry is averaging 63.7 points a game while holding opponents to 61.5 points per game. They are also narrowly out-rebounding the competition by a 2.5 margin on average and are out-shooting the competition 40.0 percent to 35.5 percent. They rank second in the SAC in three-point attempts and third in turnovers per game and points per game allowed.

SERIES HISTORY
· LMU trails in the series 18-8 and have a 6-6 record in the Turner Arena vs. the Wolves. In the Krystal Evans era, Newberry holds a 4-3 advantage.

· In the last meeting, LMU had one of their poorer offensive outings of the season as they hit 32 percent from the field in a 56-52 close loss at Newberry. Newberry led the 8th-ranked Lady Railsplitters for most of the game and held a 13 point lead with 4:18 left in the game. LMU had a 10-1 run to close out the game, but could not get out of the hole they had dug earlier. Megan Pittman had 15 points and Shea Coker chipped in 13 points in the loss. Nicola Handreck led Newberry with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

SCOUTING LMU
· Head Coach Krystal Evans is in her fourth season at LMU. She has a 64-36 overall record.

· Shea Coker is currently leading the team in scoring (both two- and three-point) and rebounding, with a 16.8 points and 5.7 rebounds a game average. She currently leads the SAC in three-point percentage and is fourth in offensive rebounds and sixth in made field goals.

 · Emily Griffith is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.1 points a game. Cameryn DuBose is second on the team in rebounding, pulling down 4.1 a game, closely followed by Maggie Jachimczuk and Dasia Maxwell with 3.8.

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

· LMU also ranks seventh in the NCAA in offensive rebounds per game, 19th in rebounds per game and 78th in turnovers forced. Shea Coker is ranked in eight national categories, including fifth in the nation in three-point percentage. Emily Griffith is ranked in free throw percentage.

RECORD WATCH
· POINTS –Shea Coker is close to joining the 1,000 point club as she currently has 958 points. She is currently tied for 22nd in the career scoring ranks, trailing 21st place Andi Winney (2006-09) by 15 points.

· FIELD GOALS – Coker ranks 22nd on the made field goals list with 372. She trails Brandy Brown (1994-98) on this list by three field goals. She also ranks 15th in career field goal percentage, hitting 48.3 percent of her field goals.

· THREE-POINTERS - Coker is seventh in made treys with 110 and is the ninth Lady Railsplitter with 100 or more career three-pointers. She trails sixth-place Kara Harris (2007-09) by four and fifth place Heather Brown (1993-97) by six. Coker is also 11th on the three-point attempts list with 248, and is first on the 3-pt percentage list with a .444 percentage. Ross Mathis is 12th in made treys with 87 and trails #11 Katrina Ottesen (2013-15) by two. She is 8th on the attempts list with 266 and ranks 13th on the percentage list with 32.7%. Also ranked in the top 50 on the made three-pointer list are Karsen Sims (23rd) Rachel Griffith (tied for 37th) and Sydney Duggins (41st).

· ASSISTS – Ross Mathis ranks 35th in career assists with 142 and trails Ruth Simpson (1992-94) and Mollie Cooper (1994-97) by one. Karsen Sims is 42nd on the list with 132 assists and trails Kelsey Bradford (2011-13) by one.

· THE MOST IMPORTANT THING – Congratulations to Karsen Sims, Josey Harding and Sydnie Anderson on graduating Dec. 9!