HARROGATE, Tenn. – With Lincoln Memorial University athletics' fall season now complete, LMU turns its full attention to the Railsplitters and Lady Railsplitters' winter sports. Men's and women's basketball, who began South Atlantic Conference play over the weekend, enter their second week of league action while men's bowling wraps up its fall schedule of tournaments in Illinois.  
 
Throughout 2019-20, LMU athletics will provide a look ahead at the week's calendar of athletic events, both home and away, previewing each team's competition/s and highlighting team's news, notes, performances and more.
 
Women's Basketball
The LMU women's basketball team continues its four-game road swing as it has two SAC games this week with a short break for Thanksgiving in the middle. The Lady Railsplitters travel to Carson-Newman Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip before traversing to Coker Saturday for a 2 p.m. affair.
 
LMU enters Tuesday's game with a 1-2 record and a 1-0 SAC mark after defeating Wingate 62-54 Saturday evening, giving Interim Head Coach Brewton, Jr. his first career victory. The Bulldogs shot out to an early double-digit lead. However, the Lady Railsplitters then began to chip away, eventually putting together a 19-3 run across the second and third quarters that gave them the lead for good. Wingate would tie the game up at 52-52 with a little over two minutes remaining, but key free throws from freshman Lauren Flowers sealed the deal as LMU out-scored the Bulldogs 10-2 down the stretch for the eight-point victory.
 
Currently, Flowers leads the team in scoring with a 16.3 points and 4.0 assists per game average. She is also third on the team in rebounding as she is averaging 5.0 a contest. Senior Shermeria Quarles leads the team on the boards with an 8.7 per game average and is second in scoring with 8.3 a game. Freshman Toni McCombs is third in scoring with 8.0 points a game.
 
First up this week is the first of two meetings with Carson-Newman, with this tilt being held in Jefferson City. Tuesday's matchup will be the 99th meeting between the two teams. The Lady Eagles enter the contest with a 4-2 record and riding a two-game losing streak after falling to both Clayton State and North Georgia this past weekend. Kayla Marosites leads Carson-Newman with a 19.7 points and 12.7 rebounds per game average.
 
After a short break for Thanksgiving, the Lady Railsplitters will travel to Coker for a Saturday SAC tilt with the Cobras. Coker is currently 2-1 on the year and will open SAC play Tuesday evening at Wingate. Ashauntee Nelson leads Coker with 10.3 points a game, while Erin Houser is averaging 9.7 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds for the Cobras.
 
Following Saturday's game, LMU will return home for the next three contests as they host Tennessee Wesleyan next Tuesday, Queens next Saturday, Dec. 7 and Lenoir-Rhyne Wednesday, Dec. 18.
 
Men's Basketball
The Railsplitters (6-1, 1-0 SAC) have now won six straight following two blowout wins last week. Completing a 4-0 homestand, LMU routed Johnson University (Tenn.) by 47 points (102-55) last Tuesday night inside Tex Turner Arena before claiming a 37-point conference road victory at receiving-votes Wingate Saturday in both team's SAC opener.
 
This week, the Railsplitters continue league play with a pair of road games at Carson-Newman Tuesday night for a 7:30 p.m. tip and at Coker for a 4 p.m. tilt Saturday.
 
After another impressive week of play, redshirt junior Devin Whitfield was tabbed SAC AstroTurf Player of the Week Monday morning. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 28 points, 5.5 rebounds and three steals in LMU's pair of triumphs last week, turning in career-highs in scoring in both games. In fact, in each of the Railsplitters' last three games Whitfield has notched a season-best in scoring. During Saturday's victory in North Carolina, Whitfield scored 31 points on 8-of-17 shooting with five three-pointers and a season-high seven rebounds, not to mention a block, steal and assist. Last Tuesday, Whitfield racked up 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting, grabbed four rebounds, blocked two shots and made a season-best five steals.
 
Tuesday's meeting with Carson-Newman will be the 210th all-time between the two programs with LMU holding a 106-103 advantage in the series. The Railsplitters are 41-60 against the Eagles in Jefferson City but have gone 16-7 versus Carson-Newman since the 2009-10 season. Prior to last season's 79-75 loss inside Holt Fieldhouse, LMU had won five consecutive in the series from January of 2017 to January 30, 2019. The Railsplitters earned a 90-68 victory over visiting Carson-Newman last November and last defeated the Eagles on the road in January of 2018 (108-69).
 
Carson-Newman enters Tuesday night's affair with a 2-3 record and having most recently dropped a narrow 80-78 decision last Wednesday at the hands of Southern Wesleyan. The Eagles have also suffered setbacks to Lees-McRae (103-101) and King University (93-74), while picking up home wins over Shorter (113-98) and Tennessee Wesleyan (103-70).
 
LMU has never lost to Coker and is a perfect 12-0 against the Cobras in program history. Since Coker entered the SAC prior to the 2013-14 season, the closest the Cobras have gotten to the Railsplitters is four points when LMU grabbed a 62-58 triumph in Hartsville on Jan. 31, 2015. Averaging a 24.6 margin of victory in the 12 contests, the Railsplitters have claimed six wins in Hartsville, South Carolina, including a 96-67 rout this past January.
 
Coker (1-2, 0-0 SAC) takes on Wingate in a road affair Tuesday night for its league opener before hosting LMU Saturday. The Cobras have split games with Limestone this season, earning a 58-53 road win against the Saints before being defeated 73-66 at home. Coker also dropped an 85-63 tilt at Lander.
 
Men's Bowling
The LMU men's bowling team returns to the lanes after a four-week break this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, at the National Collegiate Team Match Games. The two-day tournament hosted by McKendree University will be held at the St. Clair Bowling Center in Fairview Heights, Illinois.
 
The Railsplitters are seeking another top-10 finish at the National College Team Match Games after a placing fourth at the event in 2017-18 and notching a seventh-place finish during LMU's 2018-19 campaign.
 
Saturday, the Railsplitters will begin with six traditional team matches before taking part in five four-game Baker sets Sunday to close out the tournament.
 
How to Follow
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms - @LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram, for complete coverage of Railsplitter and Lady Railsplitter athletics throughout 2019-20.