HARROGATE, Tenn. — The Lady Railsplitters' fight never wavered.
 
Down by 24 heading into the fourth quarter, the Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team roared back, outscoring the Eagles by nearly double and coming within nine points late before eventually falling 91-80 to South Atlantic Conference foe, No. 11-ranked Carson-Newman in the SAC opener Wednesday night inside Tex Turner Arena.
 
"I felt we came out scared and felt like we came out jittery," LMU women's head coach Krystal Evans said. "Carson-Newman is a veteran team and they were obviously confident and started the game really well and was hitting shots, but Carson-Newman is a great scoring team. All five out there can either shoot the three or take you off the dribble. They are just very well-rounded, but I felt like all of our girls dismissed our qualities.
 
"We didn't start the game very well and it got us in a hole in the first quarter. I was just telling them in the locker room, 'Why is it we got two black eyes and knocked out some teeth before we came out swinging?' It just didn't make any sense to me. We are young and we are still making adjustments. What I am very proud of is we fought back and we didn't let any lead that they had discourage us. When it comes down to it, you have 27 points in the fourth quarter and I'm like, 'Why didn't we start the game like that?'"
 
LMU (2-3, 0-1 SAC) came out of the first half trailing by 14, but a boost of energy was apparent as the Lady Railsplitters ripped off a quick 7-0 run. The Griffith twins got it started, with Emily driving to the basket and Rachel following with another.
 
Then, it was Kai Wesemann back in the lineup — after subbing in late in the second quarter — hitting her first career triple to pull the Lady Railsplitters within seven and forcing a Carson-Newman timeout with eight minutes, 12 seconds remaining in the third frame.
 
"I think what Kai brought to the table was that she wasn't scared," Evans said. "She came into the gym and had confidence. What's funny is she didn't have a clue what our game plan was because she's hadn't been at practice; she was sick.
 
"When they left her open, she knocked it down and she was crashing the boards and playing solid defense. I just feel like it was a mindset. Kai came in the game and really wanted to win. She brought great energy with her, and I think she was a great spark plug for us."
 
Wesemann, who finished with a career-high nine points and five rebounds, used two of those points following a pair of Kayla Marosites' free throws to make it a seven-point game.
 
But, Carson-Newman (6-1, 1-0) stretched the lead back out, all the way to 24 heading into the final 10 minutes. That was when the Lady Railsplitters slowly but surely cut the deficit to nine with a minute, 19 seconds remaining.
 
Lexi Kiser, who bucketed seven points off the bench in her 10 minutes, started the surge as she used a 5-0 run of her own before a C-N unsportsmanlike conduct foul put Rachel Griffith to the free-throw line for two shots. The senior hit them both, pulling LMU within nine, 87-78, though it was a tad bit too late to complete the comeback in a quarter the Lady Railsplitters won, 27-14.
 
LMU's bench outscored the Eagles, 37-8, as the Lady Railsplitters were led by Dasia Maxwell's 12 points and nine boards off the bench. Rachel Griffith led all scorers with 16 while her sister, Emily, had 11, and Sydney Newsome and Sydney Duggins had eight apiece. The Griffith twins both had six rebounds each, as well.

Overall, LMU out-rebounded the Eagles by one, 48-47, and snagged more second-chance points (22-18) and fast-break points (23-20). C-N edged the Lady Railsplitters in the paint, 42-38.
 
The Lady Eagles were paced by five double-digits scorers in Mika Wester (20), Marosites (22), Briana Smith (11), Addison Byrd (11) and Haris Price (19).
 
"I saw all kinds of things, which is great," Evans said. "It lets me know, 'OK, this person can add this to the table and this person can bring this to the table.' What I told them after the game is my frustration is I don't know what I'm going to get from who on any given night right now and that's a frustrating place to be as a coach. Once we can get some consistency on this team, we could fire things up."

The LMU women will aim to bounce back when the Lady Railsplitters host Coker at 2 p.m. Saturday.