HARROGATE, Tenn. – The LMU women's basketball team will make the short trip to Jefferson City to face long-time archrival Carson-Newman for the first time this season and the 93rd time overall Wednesday evening.

LMU enters the game at 10-5 overall on the season, 6-3 in SAC play and riding a five game winning streak dating back to Dec. 19. Most recently they used a solid outside game and rebounding to coast to the 78-55 win at Queens last Saturday.

Carson-Newman is ranked ninth in the latest WBCA poll and eighth in the D2SIDA Media Poll and enters the game coming off their first loss of the season on Saturday at Wingate. LMU is ranked tenth in the latest D2SIDA Southeast Regional Rankings, with C-N coming in first.

In LMU's game at Queens, LMU seized the lead mid-way through the first quarter and never looked back as they overthrew the Queens Royals 78-55 Saturday afternoon to win their fifth-straight contest. LMU had three players in double digits in scoring, led by Shea Coker's 16 points. Coker scored 13 of her points in the second half. Ross Mathis had 15 points, all on three-pointers, while Rachel Griffith chipped in 13 points. LMU, which out-rebounded Queens 32-25 for the game, was led on the boards by Elizabeth Jones' career high of six rebounds while Addi Kirkpatrick pulled down five rebounds. Jones also led LMU with four assists.

LMU's Play4Kay game this year will be against Newberry on Feb. 3. For more information about the Play4Kay game or the Kay Yow Cancer Fund go to https://support.kayyow.com/team/149961.

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. It will also be broadcast regionally on MyVLT, with Mark Packer providing the play-by-play commentary.

SCOUTING C-N
· The Lady Eagles enter the game with a 16-1 overall record and 8-1 record in SAC play. Then fourth-ranked Carson-Newman picked up their first loss of the season last Saturday at Wingate as they saw a 12 point fourth quarter lead evaporate, eventually losing 68-54.

· Mike Mincey is in his seventh season of coaching, with all seven being at Carson-Newman. He currently has a 122-69 record. Prior to taking the head coaching job, Mincey spent three seasons on the C-N staff under then-coach (and Rick Reeves protégé) Dean Walsh. He also spent time as an assistant at East Tennessee State.

· Mika Wester leads the team in scoring with 17.1 points a game, followed by Haris Price with 15.9. Price leads the team in steals (3.2) and assists (4.5) per game as well. Kayla Marosites leads the team in rebounding with 10.2 a game.

· As a team, C-N is averaging 93.9 points a game while giving up 67.3 points per game. They are also besting opponents on the boards by a margin of 8.1 rebounds a game. They rank first in the SAC in points per game; field goal, three-point and free throw percentages, assists per game and turnovers per game.

· The Lady Eagles rank highly in the nation in several offensive categories, including scoring offense and assists (both are ranked 3rd).

SERIES HISTORY
· LMU trails in the close series 48-44. In the modern era (1974-present) the Lady Eagles hold a 48-34 advantage, but take out a 21 game win streak from 1974-86 and LMU holds a 34-27 lead. Long story short, LMU has won eight of the last ten meetings.

· This is LMU's oldest rivalry, dating back to the 1920s. The teams played almost every season back then until pressure from the Women's Division of the National Amateur Athletic Federation (which was founded to promote athletic opportunities for women but ended up basically killing women's competitive sports for over 40 years) forced many schools (including C-N) into dropping women's athletics in 1931. LMU continued to field intercollegiate women's basketball until 1945, when the increasing lack of outside competition meant the program became an intramural sport for the next 28 years before the advent of Title IX brought back intercollegiate competition in 1973-74 for both schools.

· The last meeting between the two was in the SAC Tournament semifinals on March 4, 2017 in Greeneville, SC. The teams swapped leads until late in the second quarter, when a Coker jumper gave LMU a two point lead at the half. The Lady Railsplitters extended the lead to as much as ten points in the third quarter and never looked back in the 72-67 win. Karsen Sims led LMU with 18 points, Josey Harding had 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds while Shea Coker had 14 points. Mika Wester led the Lady Eagles with 19 points.

· In the last meeting in Jefferson City, Josey Harding had a game for the ages as she set a new LMU and SAC record with 27 rebounds in addition to her 16 points. LMU needed every one of both rebounds and points in a 102-99 instant classic that saw LMU lose a 13 point lead, go down by five late, and take a late lead only to give up a late basket to force overtime. In the OT period, LMU grabbed a four point lead and held off a late rally with clutch free throws from Karsen Sims to grab the win. In addition to Harding's 16 points, Shea Coker had 25 points, Megan Pittman scored 18 and Sims chipped in 17 points.

SCOUTING LMU
· Head Coach Krystal Evans is in her fourth season at LMU. She has a 69-37 overall record.

· Shea Coker is currently leading the team in scoring (both two- and three-point) and rebounding, with a 14.3 points and 4.8 rebounds a game average. She currently leads the SAC in three-point percentage and is eighth in offensive rebounds and ninth in points per game.

 · Emily Griffith is second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.5 points a game, and ranks fifth in the SAC in free throw percentage. Emily's twin sister Rachel is close behind at 9.7 points per game and leads the team lead in assists. Cameryn DuBose is second on the team in rebounding, pulling down 4.2 a game, closely followed by Qua Hines with 3.6 per game.

· The third quarter has been LMU's favorite over the past few games. Over their five-game win streak they have outscored opponents 111-65 in that period.

· As a team, LMU leads in the SAC in offensive rebounds per game, is third in points per game, three-point percentage, rebound margin, steals per game and field goal attempts per game, fourth in rebounds per game and assists per game, fifth in field goals made (both two and three) and made free throws a game.

· LMU also ranks eleventh in the NCAA in offensive rebounds per game, 41st in three-pointer percentage, 42nd in rebound margin and turnovers forced, 55th in rebounds per game, 67th in scoring offense and 70th in assists per game. Shea Coker is ranked in six national categories. Emily Griffith and Qua Hines are ranked in free throw percentage.

RECORD WATCH
· POINTS –Shea Coker became the 19th Lady Railsplitter to score 1,000 or more points in her career on Jan. 6 against Coker. There have only been two other players to date since the end of the Roger Vannoy era in 2007 to break the 1,000 point mark – Dayshalee Salaman scored 1,825 from 2008-12 and former teammate Megan Pittman scored 1,108 from 2014-17. Coker currently has 1,016 points and trails #18 Nickie Snow (1984-88) by 11 points. There are several other players hovering around the 400-point mark; Karsen Sims has 416, Emily Griffith passed the 400 mark against Queens and now has 408 (ranking her 70th, just behind Sims), Ross Mathis has 397, while Rachel Griffith has 364 career points.

· FIELD GOALS – Coker is currently 19th on the made field goals list with 394. She trails Bridget Long (1990-94) by seven field goals, former teammate Megan Pittman (2014-17) by nine, and Hillary Ross (2000-04) by 12. Coker also ranks 15th in career field goal percentage, hitting 47.6 percent of her field goals.

· THREE-POINTERS - Coker is now ranked fifth in made treys with 119 and at the moment is the ninth Lady Railsplitter with 100 or more career three-pointers. Ross Mathis has 98 and ranks 10th. Coker trails fourth place Karra Jackson (1998-02) by 44. In attempts, Mathis is eighth on the list with 296, followed by Coker with 269.  Mathis trails eighth-place Chasity Williams (2002-06) by one. Coker is first on the 3-pt percentage list with a .442 percentage. Mathis is 12th on the percentage list with 33.1%. Also ranked in the top 50 on the made three-pointer list are Karsen Sims (23rd) Rachel Griffith (28th) and Sydney Duggins (40th).

· ASSISTS – Ross Mathis is 29th in career assists with 156 and trails Destiny Williams (2009-11) by five. Karsen Sims is tied for 38th on the list with 137 assists with Bridget Long (1990-94) and trails Kara Harris (2007-09) by one. Shea Coker is in a four-way tie for 51st place with 120 assists (one of those she is tied with is former teammate Megan Pittman) and needs one assist to crack into the top 50 and tie Ralissa Nelson (2011-13).

· STEALS – People must have to lock up their basketballs in Oliver Springs as both of the Griffiths are creeping up the all-time steals list. Rachel is currently in 51st place with 70 while Emily trails her sister by six steals and four places. Teammate Ross Mathis is tied with Emily for 55th place. Rachel needs just two steals to tie #48 Candice Rose (2003-06), Natasha Davis (1996-00) and Jamie Russell (1986-88) while Emily and Ross need one steal to tie #54 Destiny Williams (2009-11) and three to tie former teammate Josey Harding (2013-17) at 53rd.