HARROGATE, Tenn. – After lengthy breaks due to the Christmas holiday, the Lincoln Memorial University men's and women's basketball teams begin 2020 by returning to game action this weekend each with a South Atlantic Conference contest in the Palmetto State. The two Saturday afternoon games represent the lone week until May that LMU athletics only has two programs competing as men's volleyball begins the following week, along with men's and women's indoor track and field returning to their winter schedule and men's bowling hosting the Railsplitter Baker tournament.
 
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 program's news, notes, performances and more.
 
Women's Basketball
The LMU women's basketball team will kick off the new year on the road as they travel to Newberry Saturday for a 2 p.m. SAC game. The Lady Railsplitters are currently 4-5 on the season and 3-2 in league play following a loss at Limestone on Dec. 21.
 
Freshman Lauren Flowers leads the team in scoring with 13.2 points a game in addition to 3.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists a game. Senior Shermeria Quarles is averaging 8.4 points and 4.4 rebounds a game, while junior Semajia Ogburn is the team leader in rebounds with 4.5 a game and freshman Toni McCombs is chipping in 7.6 points a contest.
 
Newberry is currently 5-5 on the season and 2-3 in SAC play. One of its wins is an overtime victory over conference leader and nationally-ranked Anderson on Newberry's home court on Dec. 11. The Wolves will play on Jan. 2 in an exhibition contest at Furman. Talia Roberts leads Newberry with 12.2 points a game, followed by Keli Romas with 11.2 points. Courtney Virgo leads the team with 7.4 rebounds a contest.
 
Following Saturday's game, LMU will return to Harrogate for a three-game SAC homestand beginning with the first-ever meeting against UVa-Wise as a SAC member next Wednesday, Jan. 8.
 
Men's Basketball
The Railsplitters begin the new year on a 12-game winning streak with a 12-1 record and an unblemished 5-0 mark in SAC play. Saturday afternoon LMU will return from a 13-day break from game action when it traverses to Newberry, South Carolina, for a 4 p.m. tip-off with the Wolves of Newberry College inside Eleazer Arena.
 
Prior to their lengthy Christmas break, the Railsplitters won a non-conference road thriller at Kentucky Wesleyan in Owensboro, Kentucky, on Sunday, Dec. 22. In a game that was mostly controlled by the host Panthers, LMU found itself with a six-point lead late before things were tied up at 75 with 14 seconds to go. Redshirt sophomore guard Cameron Henry, who was 1-for-9 from the field prior to the closing seconds, grabbed an offensive rebound with about three seconds to go and laid it up for the game-winning shot. The victory gave the Railsplitters their fifth win away from home this season.
 
Sophomore guard Courvoisier McCauley ended 2019 on a high note, receiving LMU's second SAC AstroTurf Men's Basketball Player of the Week Award Monday, Dec. 23 after his record-setting 44-point performance in the Railsplitters' 97-77 home win over Lenoir-Rhyne Dec. 18 inside Tex Turner Arena. The 6-foot-5 swingman's 44 points were the most scored in a single game in LMU's NCAA era and the most by a Railsplitter since 1987.
 
Looking to extend its longest win streak since 2017-18, LMU will be going for its sixth-straight defeat of the Wolves. The Railsplitters have won their previous nine meetings with Newberry in Newberry and have not lost a true road game to the Wolves since Feb. 27, 2010. Holding a 22-7 all-time record in the series, LMU has won 13 of the last 14 meetings and 18 of the last 20.
 
A season ago, the Railsplitters defeated the Wolves 91-85 in Newberry after earning a 115-84 triumph in Harrogate. LMU also reached 115 points against the Wolves during the 2017-18 season with a 117-95 win inside Tex Turner Arena. However, the Railsplitters' previous three trips to Newberry have resulted in tightly-contested affairs with LMU winning games by six, four and seven points.
 
The Wolves (7-4, 3-2) enter the weekend having won two of their last three games, including their last two SAC outings. Newberry topped Anderson 76-67 at home (Dec. 11) and won a 73-67 contest at UVa-Wise (Dec. 14), while picking up a 91-84 victory at Catawba back on Nov. 26. Dropping an 80-70 league game at Mars Hill (Nov. 30) and a 65-61 home affair to Tusculum, the Wolves were most recently defeated 69-53 in non-conference action at West Alabama last Friday (Dec. 20).
 
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.