HARROGATE, Tenn. – The No. 13/20 and third-seeded Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team has one game down and five more to go. After defeating Clayton State 87-58 in the NCAA Southeast Regional Quarterfinals on Friday. They now advance to face Wingate in the semifinal at 5 p.m. Saturday.

LMU is currently 27-4 overall. They are currently ranked 13th in the WBCA/USA Today NCAA Division II Coaches Poll and 20th in the final D2SIDA National Media Poll.

With their 19 SAC wins, LMU captured their first-ever South Atlantic Conference Championship in women's basketball. The 19 SAC wins by LMU are a new program record for conference wins and the second-most in SAC history. Anderson went 20-2 in the 2014-15 season.

LMU earned a three-seed in this year's regional, which is the highest seed in program history. They enter the tournament courtesy of an at-large bid.

In Friday's game, LMU ran out to the 8-0 lead and never looked back in the win over Clayton State. Three players tied or set new career highs in the game. Karsen Sims (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) led LMU with a career-high 19 points. Emily Griffith (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) tied her career-high with 18 points and 10 assists while Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) chipped in 12 points. Rachel Griffith (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) had 11 points and Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) had her 11th double-double of the season (and 18th of her career) with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Shermeria Quarles (Greenwood, S.C.) had a career high nine points off the bench. Ross Mathis (Greer, S.C.) had a career-high five steals.

Saturday's game will be streamed by Columbus State and the NCAA will be providing live stats. Links to those are available at the top of this page or on www.lmurailsplitters.com. Fans listening on the radio can hear play-by-play on the LMU Sports Network at 91.3 WLMU-FM and online at www.913thegap.com.
 
LINCOLN MEMORIAL VS. WINGATE
· This is the fourth meeting this season.
· Wingate defeated LMU last Sunday to capture the automatic bid to the tournament.
· Wingate has a 26-5 record entering Saturday's game.
 
SCOUTING LMU
· Head Coach Krystal Evans is the first LMU coach in LMU's NCAA era to be named conference Coach of the Year. She was named the 2016-17 SAC Coach of the Year for her efforts.
· Senior SAC Player of the Year and CoSIDA Academic All-American Megan Pittman leads the team in scoring with an average of 14.5 points a game. She is second on the team in rebounding with 9.2 a game. Pittman is currently shooting 80.7% from the free throw line.
· Junior All-SAC Second Team member Shea Coker is second on the team in scoring with a 13.1 points per game average.
· Senior All-SAC Honorable Mention Josey Harding currently leads the team and led the SAC in rebounding and rebounds per game with 11.1 rebounds a game and is fourth on the team in scoring with 8.6 points a game. She set a new SAC single-game rebound record with her 27 at Carson-Newman and with her 23 rebounds at Anderson she became the first LMU player, men or women, to have three 20+ rebound games.
· Karsen Sims (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) is third on the team in scoring with 8.7 points a game.
· LMU is outshooting their opponents 41.0 percent to 38.3 percent this season. They are outscoring their opponents by a 14.5 points per game margin.
· The Lady Railsplitters are currently out-rebounding opponents by 10.4 rebounds a game. In the Krystal Evans era, LMU has outrebounded their opponents in 76 of the 89 games played.
· LMU enters the game with a program record of 847-484-1 in 75 seasons of competition.
 
LMU IN THE RANKINGS
· The Lady Railsplitters are ranked 13th in the latest WBCA/USA Today Top 25 Coaches' Poll.       
· The team is ranked 20th in the D2SIDA National Media Poll.
· The fourth-place ranking earlier this season was the highest any SAC team has been ranked in the media poll, which was started in 2014 and ties the highest ranking by a SAC team in conference history. The other team? Former SAC member Presbyterian, who was ranked fourth in the coaches' poll for two weeks in February, 2000.
· The fifth-place coaches' poll ranking earlier this season ties the highest ranking by a current SAC team in the coaches' poll with Tusculum, who were ranked fifth the week of Jan. 13, 3009.
 
RECORD WATCH
· POINTS - Megan Pittman currently has 1086 career points, moving her up to 16th place in the all-time standings. She became the 18th member of the LMU 1,000 point club at Newberry on Feb. 11. She trails #15 Bridget Long (1990-94) by 25 points. Coker has 791, Harding has 750, Anderson 357, Mathis 319, Sims 330, Rachel Griffith 210 and twin Emily Griffith 222.
· REBOUNDS - Pittman has become the third player in LMU history to pass the 800 rebound mark, she now has 818 career rebounds, and is in third place in the LMU record book. She is 41 rebounds behind second-place Lori Neely (1985-89).
· Harding currently has 810 rebounds and ranks fourth in career rebounds. She is trails #3 Pittman by eight. She has become the fourth player in school history to have 800 rebounds and by moving into the top five there are now two of the top five rebounders in program history on the same team.
· FIELD GOALS – Pittman is in 18th place on the made field goals list with 394. She needs seven to pass Bridget Long (1990-94). She is also now 19th on the attempts list with 833 and is 11 behind #18 Anita Nelums (1992-95). Pittman is also 16^th in field goal percentage with a 47.3% career mark, just behind Shea Coker's 47.6%.
· THREE-POINTERS - Coker is 10th in made treys with 90 and trails #9 Chasity Williams (2002-06) by five. Coker is also 16th on the three-point attempts list with 209, and first on the 3-pt percentage list with a .431 percentage. Mathis is 12th in made treys with 80 and trails #11 Katrina Ottesen by nine. She is 13th on the attempts list with 229 and tenth on the percentage list with 34.9%.
· FREE THROWS – Pittman is now tied for tenth all-time in made free throws with 259 with Jennifer Childs (1999-03). Pittman is in 15th place in free throw attempts with 319, which translates to fourth place in career free throw percentage (81.2%).
· Harding is ninth all-time in made free throws (268) and trails #8 Marcie Stout (1981-85) by 12. She is 7th in free throw attempts (397).
· BLOCKS - Harding is currently in fifth place on the all-time blocks list with 108. She is the fifth player in LMU history to have 100 or more blocks.
· Pittman is also on the blocks list, where she is 15th with 51 blocks. Pittman is one behind 14th place Debbie Green (1988-91).
· DOUBLE-DOUBLES - Pittman also has 32 career double-doubles, tying her with Hillary Ross' (2000-04) school record 32.
 
SERIES VS. WINGATE
· WU leads the series 16-8.
· LMU holds a 5-6 record vs. the Bulldogs in Harrogate, a 3-9 record in Wingate and a 0-1 record on a neutral court.
 
SCOUTING WINGATE
· Wingate had one of the longest win streaks in the SAC this season, winning 11 games before losing to Anderson in the regular season finale.
· Marta Miscenko leads the team in scoring with 13.9 points a game and also leads the team in rebounding with 9.8 rebounds a game.
· Danasia Witherspoon is second on the team in scoring, averaging 13.6 points a game.