HARROGATE, Tenn. – LMU mounted a furious fourth quarter comeback from nine points down with five minutes to go to claim a 63-62 lead with 34 seconds to go, but an offensive rebound and put back from Anderson's Alexy Mollenhauer gave the #20/13 Trojans the lead for good as they hit two free throws late to escape the Tex Turner Arena with the 66-63 win Wednesday evening.

With the win, Anderson (20-2, 14-0 SAC) extends their winning streak to 18 games, while LMU falls to 12-9, 8-6 SAC. The Trojans are ranked at #20 in the WBCA Coaches' Poll and #13 in the D2SIDA Media Poll.

The loss mars what was an excellent game plan and gutsy comeback by the Lady Railsplitters, who had never led until Griffith's late basket but had kept within five to seven points of the Trojans for the entire first half. Both teams experienced some early foul trouble, which went LMU's way as it put Mollenhauer, the SAC's leading scorer, on the bench for a large portion of the half after scoring eight quick points.

Anderson has a big one-two punch in both Mollenhauer and Ace Easter, and Easter picked up the slack while Mollenhauer was on the bench, scoring eight points in the second quarter. LMU kept hanging around, partly due to Emily Griffith's 15 first-half points. After AU took a 28-23 lead with 4:41 left in the second period, jumpers by Sydney Newsome and Emily Griffith cut the lead to 28-27 with just under three minutes left. The teams traded baskets before AU again pulled the lead out to five points before Rachel Griffith hit a late driving layup to cut the score to 34-31 the half.

LMU came out of the locker room and immediately got the ball to Lindsay Proffitt in the corner, where she buried the three-point shot to tie the game at 34-34. AU then started to heat up and LMU right went cold from the field, allowing the Trojans to go on a 10-0 run. A jumper by Maggie Jachimczuk stopped the run, and LMU later went on a 6-0 run of their own to cut the lead to 51-47 at the end of the quarter.

Some key baskets by Easter helped AU pull back out to nine points before LMU had free throws by Newsome and a jumper by Cameryn DuBose that allowed them to cut the lead to 62-59 with a minute and a half left before jump shots from Rachel and Emily Griffith gave the Lady Railsplitters what would turn out to be their only lead of the game.

Emily Griffith led LMU with 21 points and four rebounds, as the senior had a nice night offensively going 9-15 from the field, 1-1 from three-point range and 2-2 from the free throw line. Jachimczuk and Rachel Griffith each chipped in 12 points, while Newsome led LMU with eight rebounds and three assists.

Both teams were close in shooting, with AU holding a slight 41.7 percent-to-36.4 percent advantage from the field. LMU fared slightly better from beyond the arc, hitting 28.6 percent to Anderson's 26.3 percent. Both teams hit 11 free throws, with AU missing one and LMU missing two. The Lady Railsplitters did have the advantage in rebounds by a 41-38 margin.

Mollenhauer led AU with 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists while Easter chipped in 18 points.

Up Next
LMU travels to Wingate for a Saturday matchup with the Bulldogs. Wingate is 16-5 overall and 11-3 in the SAC following their 56-41 win at Catawba earlier tonight. LMU won the earlier meeting this season in Harrogate 75-67.