HARROGATE, Tenn. – It's (almost) March Madness time as the LMU women's basketball team begins their run towards a South Atlantic Conference Tournament title when they host Catawba Wednesday evening in the Tex Turner Arena. The Lady Railsplitters are the fourth seed in the tournament while Catawba is seeded fifth.

The winner of this game goes on to face the winner of the Lenoir-Rhyne vs. Carson-Newman game Saturday at noon at Timmons Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.

LMU comes into the contest with a 17-10 overall record. They finished SAC play with a 12-8 record, tying them for fourth place with Catawba. Due to LMU's 89-87 win over third-ranked Carson-Newman last Wednesday evening LMU won the tie-breaker and earned the fourth seed in the tournament.

They had to fight to get that spot as they faced a very determined Queens team Saturday afternoon in front of a worldwide ESPN3 audience. Queens, whose season ended with their 66-58 overtime loss to LMU, had nothing to lose and they played like it. Despite getting out-rebounded 51-28, they used a strong first quarter to grab the early lead, eventually building it up to 12 points. LMU battled back in the third quarter and tied the game up with less than a second left to force overtime. The Lady Railsplitters then dominated the extra period 10-2 to pick up the win.

Jordan Brightwell and Emily Griffith led LMU with 13 points apiece, while Griffith led the team with nine rebounds and seven steals. Ross Mathis had 10 points and four assists.

Lade Adepoju led the Royals (4-22, 1-19 SAC) with 17 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Mendy McNeese had 12 points in her final game, while Kristian Eanes and Herning Wang each chipped in eleven points.

Links to live stats and video of the game are above or on www.lmurailsplitters.com. You can also hear the game on 91.3 WLMU locally or at www.913thegap.com. The video stream can also be found on www.watchespn.com as well as the WatchESPN app for Android, IPhone, Amazon FireTV, Apple TV, and other phones/tablets/media devices.

SCOUTING CATAWBA
· The fifth-seeded Indians come into the Turner Arena with a 14-13 record on the season. They finished 12-8 in SAC games after defeating Mars Hill 83-48 Saturday afternoon.

· Terri Rogers leads the team in scoring, rebounding and blocks as she is averaging 16.6 points a game, 7.6 rebounds a game and 0.5 blocks a game. Rogers is fifth in the SAC in made free throws, sixth in both points and rebounds per game, and seventh in free throw percentage. Serena Brown is second in scoring with 10.9 points a game while also leading the team in assists and steals. She is ranked third in the SAC in assists.
 
· As a team, Catawba is averaging 63.0 points a game while giving up 63.1 points per game. They are out-rebounding opponents by 3.8 rebounds a game and are being out-shot by their competition 40.3 percent to 36.6 percent. They rank fifth in the SAC in rebounds per game and steals per game; are sixth in turnovers per game; and rank seventh in points.
 
SERIES HISTORY
· The all-time series is tied 12-12 after Catawba's win in Salisbury in January. The Lady Railsplitters are 9-3 in the series when playing in Harrogate. They have won eight of the last ten against the Indians, including going 6-2 in the Krystal Evans era.
 
· The Lady Railsplitters will be looking to redeem themselves after having arguably their worst game of the year the last time they faced Catawba, as they fell in Salisbury 65-47 on January 20th. Catawba hit 71 percent of their shots in the first quarter and took advantage of a slow start by LMU to lead 25-6 after one quarter. The Indians extended the lead to 29 and never allowed the Lady Railsplitters to get any closer than 17 points as they went on to win 65-47.
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.
Serena Brown led the Indians with 17 points. Terri Rogers had 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds while Toni Tucker had 10 points.
 
· The last meeting between the two in Harrogate was on Dec. 2. In that game, the teams were tied late in the second quarter before a layup and free throw by Qua Hines sparked a 14-3 run extending into the third quarter that broke open the game. A similar fourth quarter run sealed the 60-43 win.
Hines led LMU with a career-high 11 points. She also pulled down three rebounds. The Griffith twins, Emily and Rachel, each chipped in 10 points apiece. Emily's came via a 5-12 shooting night from the field while Rachel only missed one shot all night; going 2-3 from the field, 2-2 from three-point range and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. Ross Mathis came off the bench to grab a career-high eight rebounds, which led the team.
Serena Brown led Catawba with 12 points and five assists in addition to four rebounds. Terri Rogers chipped in eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
 
SCOUTING LMU
· Head Coach Krystal Evans is in her fourth season at LMU. She has a 76-42 overall record and her teams have a 44-11 record in the Tex Turner Arena.
 
· Shea Coker leads the team in scoring with a 13.4 points a game average. Coker is second on the team in rebounding with 4.5 a game and is second in three-pointers made, trailing Ross Mathis by one. She currently is fifth in the SAC in three-point percentage and eighth in made field goals; ninth in made three-pointers and offensive rebounds; twelfth in steals and points per game; and 13th in total points.
 
· Rachel Griffith is second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.6 points per game. She also third on the team in assists (2.4 per game) and now leads the SAC in three-point percentage.
 
· Emily Griffith closely trails her sister in scoring, averaging 10.0 points a game, and ranks fourth in the SAC in steals, fifth in free throw percentage, and ninth in made free throws. She is also averaging 4.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.0 steals a game. She leads the team in free throws and steals.
 
· Qua Hines is averaging 8.9 points (fourth on the team), 3.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game
 
· Cameryn DuBose leads the team with 4.6 rebounds a game and is amongst the team leaders in field goal percentage with 55.3 percent.
 
· Ross Mathis is the team leader in assists (3.0 per game), three-pointers made (47, or 1.8 a game) and three-point attempts (5.4 a game). She also ranks sixth in the SAC in assist to turnover ratio and seventh in made three-pointers.
 
· As a team, LMU is averaging 73.6 points a game while holding opponents to 67.3. They are out-rebounding opponents by a +6.6 margin. They lead the SAC in offensive rebounds per game and attendance; are second in total points and made field goals per game; third in points per game, assists per game, made three-pointers per game, three-point percentage, total rebounds per game, steals per game and rebound margin per game.
 
· LMU also ranks tenth in the NCAA in offensive rebounds per game, 26th in rebound margin, 32nd in three-point percentage, 39th in assists per game, 42nd in total assists, 52nd in rebounds per game, 55th in scoring offense, 57th in turnovers forced, 67th in total rebounds, 64th in steals per game, and 71st in total steals. Ross Mathis is listed in six categories, including 70th in assist to turnover ratio. Shea Coker is ranked in four national categories, while Emily Griffith is listed in three categories, including 66th in free throw percentage.
 
· Shea Coker on Thursday was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District II team. She is the second LMU women's basketball player ever to make the team and the second in two years. Megan Pittman earned All-District and eventually Academic All-America Third Team honors last season. Pittman was one of only two SAC WBB players to make the Academic All-America squads. The other? McKell Oliverio from Queens. Coker is now eligible for the Academic All-America team and the chance to join LMU women's volleyball's Erica Whiteaker in earning Academic All-American of the Year honors.

RECORD WATCH
· POINTS –Shea Coker currently has 1,159 points and is in 14th place in the all-time scoring list. She trails #13 Marcie Stout (1981-85) by 45 points. Emily Griffith passed the 500 point mark last week and is in 55th place with 521 points and trails Lorie Compton (1983-87) by three points, while Ross Mathis has 510 and ranks 57th. Rachel Griffith has moved to 63rd with 484 career points. Karsen Sims has 416 and is 72nd.
 
· FIELD GOALS – Coker is currently 12th on the made field goals list with 451 field goals. She trails Robin Cox (1992-96) by seven. Emily Griffith is 56th, Rachel Griffith is 66th and Ross Mathis is 68th. Coker also ranks 15th in career field goal percentage, hitting 47.4 percent of her field goals.
 
· THREE-POINTERS - Coker is ranked fifth in made treys with 138. Ross Mathis is in sixth place with 129. Coker trails fourth place Karra Jackson (1998-02) by 25 while Mathis trails Coker by nine. In attempts, Mathis is fifth on the list with 376, while Coker is eighth with 321. Mathis trails fifth-place Karra Jackson (1998-02) by 43. Coker is first on the 3-pt percentage list with a .430 percentage, while Mathis is eleventh with 34.3%. Also ranked in the top 50 on the made three-pointer list are Rachel Griffith (19th), Karsen Sims (24th) and Sydney Duggins (38th).
 
· REBOUNDS – Shea Coker is in 42nd place with 310. She needs one to tie Heather Brown (1993-97).
 
· ASSISTS – Ross Mathis is 20th in career assists with 211 and now trails Liz McQueen (1980-84) by six. Shea Coker is ranked 36th on the list with 140 assists with Kate Fane (2005-08).
 
· STEALS –Emily Griffith is poised to become the 35th Lady Railsplitter to grab 100 career steals as she has 98, ranking her 36th. She trails Megan Pittman (2014-17) by one. Rachel Griffith is in 45th place with 82. Teammate Ross Mathis is in 49th place with 78.