SAINT AUGUSTINE, Fla. – the LMU women's basketball team never trailed as they shot out to an 11-2 lead and never looked back as they blew past the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes 94-76 Saturday afternoon.
With the win, LMU improves to 1-1 on the season and will continue their road travels as they play at Southern Indiana Wednesday evening. The USI Screaming Eagles are receiving votes in the latest WBCA Coaches Poll.
Rachel Griffith led the way with a career-high 22 points as the senior went 8-14 from the field, 3-5 from three point range and 3-4 from the free throw line. She also chipped in four rebounds and four assists.
Addi Kirkpatrick also had a career high with her first career double-double of 17 points and ten rebounds.
Sydney Newsome was another player with a career high as she had 16 points and nine rebounds while
Emily Griffith chipped in 16 points to go along with five rebounds and two blocks.
As a team, LMU went 34-69 from the field for 49.3 percent, 6-14 (42.9%) from three-point range and 20-28 (71.4%) from the free throw stripe. They had 19 assists and 13 turnovers, as well as five steals. LMJU out-rebounded Georgia Southwestern 48-38.
Georgia Southwestern hit 26-68 (38.2%) from the field, 8-26 (30.8%) from behind the arc and 16-25 (64.0%) from the charity stripe. They had 15 assists, 14 turnovers and six steals. The Hurricanes were led by Morgan Towells' 13 points and Tamecia Blue's 12 points.
GSW took the tip but missed a three-pointer that was grabbed by
Emily Griffith, who found her twin sister open on the perimeter.
Rachel Griffith then put LMU on the board 3-0 with only 19 seconds off the clock. After Newsome scored on LMU's next possession, the Hurricanes cut the lead to three off of two free throws by Towells. That would be the closest they would come the rest of the game as LMU ignited offensively for a 16-3 run, taking a 21-5 lead with 3:23 left in the stanza. GSW would cut into the lead late, but a three pointer by
Lindsay Proffitt and a free throw by Kirkpatrick with two seconds left gave LMU the 32-15 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Hurricanes made a few runs in the second quarter to cut the lead to eight on four occasions, but each time LMU would have an answer. The Lady Railsplitters led 49-39 at the half.
After a GSW free throw cut the lead to 49-40 14 seconds into the second half, LMU went on a 13-3 run to extend the lead to 62-43 with 6:33 remaining. The teams then traded baskets for the next several minutes as the Hurricanes cut the lead to 11 midway through the quarter only to see LMU go back to a 74-54 lead on a Kirkpatrick basket with 1:03 left, a lead they would maintain heading into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Railsplitters extended the lead to 24 early in the fourth period and held off several Hurricane charges as they held on for the 94-76 victory.
