HARROGATE, Tenn. – After nearly three weeks on the road, the Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team finally returns home to the Tex Turner Arena where they host local rival Tusculum College Wednesday evening in South Atlantic Conference action.

LMU enters the game at 10-7 overall on the season and 6-5 in SAC play after falling at Catawba 65-47 last Saturday.

At Catawba the Indians shot 71.4 percent in the first quarter while LMU hit only 25 percent. The result was a 25-6 lead at the end of the quarter that the Lady Railsplitters were never able to overcome. Emily Griffith came off the bench to lead LMU in scoring with 12 points while her sister Rachel chipped in 10. Rachel Griffith, along with Qua Hines and Dasia Maxwell, also led the team on the boards as all three players had five rebounds apiece. Rachel also led the team with three assists while Hines led in steals with five.

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.

SCOUTING TUSCULUM
· The Pioneers come into the game having arguably their best season since 2011-12 as they are 13-4 overall and 8-3 in SAC play. Since playing LMU they have gone 7-3. Their three losses have been at Catawba, at Wingate and against Carson-Newman. The last time they were 13-4 in a season was in 2011-12.

· Devan Carter is in his second full season as the head of the Pioneers. He was an interim head coach in the 2015-16 season. His overall record at Tusculum is 27-35.

· Kasey Johnson leads the team in scoring with 13.5 points a game and is second in rebounding with 6.8 boards a game. Sydney Wilson is second in scoring with 13.3 points a game, followed by Mia Long (12.1) and Kendrea Duke (10.6). Martoria Patton is the team leader in rebounds, averaging 7.1 a game; and Long leads the team in assists, steals and turnovers.

· As a team, Tusculum is averaging 76.5 points a game while giving up 73.4 points per game. They are also besting opponents on the boards by a margin of 2.4 rebounds a game. They lead the SAC in steals per game and free throw attempts per game and are second in field goals made per game, three-pointers made per game and points per game. They are third in offensive rebounds and made free throws; fourth in total points; and fifth in blocks and rebounds per game.

SERIES HISTORY
· LMU has a pretty comfortable 42-29 lead in this series, which is the second longest in program history. The Lady Railsplitters have won four of the last five and are 24-11 against TC in Harrogate. The teams are a little more even when facing each other as conference rivals, be it in the Volunteer State Athletic Conference, Tennessee Valley Athletic Conference or the South Atlantic Conference, as LMU holds a narrow 23-22 lead in those games. In the Krystal Evans Era, LMU is 5-2.

· The last meeting between the two was on Nov. 29 in Greeneville. It was the SAC opener for both teams. It was a very fast-paced game that saw the Pioneers take an early lead, only to see LMU come back early in the second quarter to take the lead. The lead then see-sawed for a while until Tusculum went up by 10 late. LMU stormed back in the final period from 10 points down to cut the lead to 74-72 with a little over a minute left, but they missed three shots down the stretch and the Pioneers sealed the win with two free throws to claim the 76-72 win.

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.

· The last meeting in Harrogate was also close as LMU gave up a fourth quarter lead and saw the Pioneers hold a late one point lead. Megan Pittman was fouled with 13 seconds left and hit both to put the Lady Railsplitters ahead 66-65. TC then missed their next shot and LMU's Josey Harding grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 2.8 seconds left in the game. She ended up missing both but because the Pioneers had used both timeouts they were unable to advance the ball via timeout and their desperation shot at the buzzer fell short.

Pittman led LMU with 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Shea Coker had 13 and Sydnie Anderson chipped in 11 points.

SCOUTING LMU
· Head Coach Krystal Evans is in her fourth season at LMU. She has a 69-38 overall record.

· Shea Coker leads the team in scoring (both two- and three-point) and rebounding and steals as she has a 13.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and a 1.5 steals 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. She is also averaging 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals a game.

· Emily's twin sister Rachel is close behind at 10.1 points per game and leads the team lead in assists. She is also fifth in the SAC in free throw percentage.

· Cameryn DuBose is second on the team in rebounding, pulling down 4.0 a game, closely followed by Qua Hines with 3.8 per game.

· As a team, LMU leads in the SAC in offensive rebounds per game; is third in points per game, made three-pointers per game, three-point percentage and steals per game; fourth in made field goals, rebound margin and rebounds per game; fifth in made free throws a game and sixth in total points.

· LMU also ranks ninth in the NCAA in offensive rebounds per game, 30th in three-point percentage, 35th in turnovers forced, 56th in rebound margin, 66th in assists per game, 72nd in scoring offense , and 74th in rebounds per game. Shea Coker is ranked in six national categories, while Emily Griffith and Qua Hines are ranked in free throw percentage.

RECORD WATCH
· POINTS –Shea Coker currently has 1,039 points and is in 18th place in the all-time scoring list. She trails #17 Laura Winters (1988-92) by 26 points. There are several other players hovering around the 400-point mark; Emily Griffith is 67th with 429 points while Ross Mathis has 426 and ranks 68th. Griffith trails All-American Lakeshia Salters (1999-2000) by 20 points. Karsen Sims has 416 and is 71st and Rachel Griffith is not far behind at 76th with 391 career points.

· FIELD GOALS – Coker is currently 18th on the made field goals list with 402. She trails former teammate Megan Pittman (2014-17) by one and Hillary Ross (2000-04) by four. Coker also ranks 15th in career field goal percentage, hitting 47.7 percent of her field goals.

· THREE-POINTERS - Coker is now ranked fifth in made treys with 122. Ross Mathis on Jan. 17 became the tenth Lady Railsplitter to hit over 100 career treys and is now eighth with 107. Coker trails fourth place Karra Jackson (1998-02) by 41 while Mathis trails seventh place Kara Harris (2007-09) by seven. In attempts, Mathis is seventh on the list with 319, while Coker is ninth with 274.  Mathis trails sixth-place Kara Harris by four. Coker is first on the 3-pt percentage list with a .445 percentage. Mathis is 12th on the percentage list with 33.5%. Also ranked in the top 50 on the made three-pointer list are Karsen Sims (23rd) Rachel Griffith (24th) and Sydney Duggins (39th).

· REBOUNDS – Shea Coker is close to cracking the top 50 in rebounds as she is in 52nd place with 266. She needs two to tie Sara Wood (1998-02).

· ASSISTS – Ross Mathis is 26th in career assists with 166 and trails former teammate Britney Guy (2012-16) by one. 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 three-way tie for 48th place with 123.

· 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 a four-way tie for 48th place with 72 while Emily trails her sister by four steals and four places. Teammate Ross Mathis trails Emily by one and is tied with former teammate Josey Harding in 54th place. Rachel needs just two steals to tie #47 Ruth Simpson (1992-94).