HARROGATE, Tenn. – LMU closes out the regular season as they make the trip across the mountains to face Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday afternoon. With a win, they would sweep the Bears for the third time in five seasons.

LMU (15-12, 10-9 SAC) has one simple goal – win and they host a first round game in the SAC Tournament. There is an outside chance that they could win and not host anyway due to the byzantine tiebreaker scenarios this season, but if they take care of business they would get the fourth seed and host a first-round game.

They had a chance to clinch the fourth spot on Wednesday but cold shooting cost them in a 69-58 loss at Tusculum. Emily Griffith led LMU with 14 points, six rebounds and five steals. Lindsay Proffitt came off the bench to score eleven points, including three three-pointers. Cameryn DuBose and Shermeria Quarles tied Emily Griffith on the boards with six each.
 
SERIES HISTORY
· LMU trails in the series 15-10. LMU has won six of the last seven. One weird feature of this series is that LMU is 6-6 in Hickory but only 4-9 in the Tex Turner Arena. In the Krystal Evans era, LMU is 6-3 in the series.

· In their last meeting, on Jan. 19 in Harrogate, Rachel Griffith led three LMU players in double figures with 23 points as LMU pulled away in the third quarter and never looked back in a 73-62 win. Sydney Newsome chipped in 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists while Emily Griffith had 14 points. Maggie Jachimczuk pulled down 14 rebounds. The loss spoiled a brilliant performance from L-R's Kendall Toineeta, who had 25 points, including a 10-12 night at the free throw line, and five assists. Kennedy Weigt chipped in 17 points, including four three-pointers, and Madi Suddreth added in 10 points. Madeline Hardy led L-R on the boards with 12 rebounds.

· This will be LMU's first appearance in Hickory in over a calendar year as they last played at Lenoir-Rhyne on Dec. 30, 2017. LMU used a dominating second-half performance on the boards and stingy defense to outscore the host Bears 43-27 in the second half and claim the 72-58 win. Qua Hines led LMU with 15 points and Ross Mathis had 11. Shermeria Quarles had nine rebounds. The Bears' Kendall Toineeta flirted with a triple-double as she had nine points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Cassidy Joiner led the Bears in scoring with 15 points, while Kennedy Weigt chipped in 11. Madi Suddreth also had double-digit rebounds with 10.
 
SCOUTING LENOIR-RHYNE
· The Bears come into the game with a 15-12 current overall record and an 10-9 SAC record.

· Maddi Suddreth leads the team in scoring with a 13.8 points per game average. She also leads the team in rebounds with 5.2 a game. The senior is tenth in the SAC in both categories.

· Kendall Toineeta is averaging 13.2 points, 5.5 assists, and 2.5 steals a game. The former Cherokee Lady Brave leads the SAC in assists, is second in steals and twelfth in points.

· This will be L-R's senior day and they will honor Toineeta, Suddreth. Allie Wagner, Ashley Rodriguez, and Michaelle Smith before the game.

· As a team, L-R are outscoring their opponents by a 68.2-to-67.0 points per game margin and are out-rebounding their opponents by +1.5 a game. They are forcing their opponents to commit 16.2 turnovers a game, while committing 16.0 themselves.

· Lenoir-Rhyne ranks second in the SAC in free throw percentage; fourth in assists and turnovers; fifth in field goal percentage and points per game allowed; sixth in blocks, rebound margin; and seventh in blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING LMU
· Head Coach Krystal Evans is in her fifth season at LMU. She has a 92-55 overall record.
 
· Emily Griffith and her twin sister Rachel currently lead the team in scoring, with Emily edging out Rachel 16.5 points a game to 13.8. In the SAC, Emily ranks fourth in total points, fifth in assists and points per game, seventh in steals and third in made field goals while Rachel is eighth in scoring, sixth in assists, seventh in assist to turnover ratio, tenth in steals, and third in made free throws. Sydney Newsome has 8.3 points a game, while Lindsay Proffitt has 7.1 and Dasia Maxwell has 6.9.
 
· Rebounding is a team effort this season as Maggie Jachimczuk and Newsome both lead the team in rebounds with 5.2 a game. Dasia Maxwell and Emily Griffith (4.1 per game each) are not far behind while Shermeria Quarles has a 4.0 rebounds a game average.  
 
· Emily Griffith leads the team with 3.5 assists a game, followed closely by Rachel with 3.3.

· The twins are also one-two in steals, with Emily averaging 1.9 steals a game and Rachel 1.8. Newsome and Maxwell have 1.3 a game each.
 
· LMU has three of the top 18 three-point shooters in the SAC, as Lindsay Proffitt lead the SAC with 45.8 percent and Sydney Duggins is third with 42.1 percent. The two have flip-flopped first and second in the conference for most of the season, and now Proffitt is back at the top. Rachel Griffith is 18th.
 
· As a team, LMU is averaging 74.3 points a game while holding opponents to 71.6. They are out-rebounding opponents by a margin of +5.3 a game.
 
· LMU leads the SAC in made free throws a game and offensive rebounds per game. They are second in three-point percentage, field goal attempts, free throw attempts and total rebounds per game. They rank third in points, points per game, rebound margin, and made field goals per game; and rank fifth in steals per game, free throw percentage and sixth in assists per game and made three-pointers per game.
 
RECORD WATCH
· POINTS – Emily Griffith has cracked the top 20 and is now the highest scoring Lady Railsplitter who has not reached the 1,00-point plateau as she has 988 points. She is currently 39 behind no. 19 Nickie Snow's (1984-88) 1,027 points. Rachel Griffith isn't far behind at 30th with 857 points.
 
· FIELD GOALS – Emily Griffith is 22nd with 378 while Rachel Griffith is 34th. Dasia Maxwell is in 65th place.
 
· THREE-POINTERS – Rachel Griffith ranks 11th in made three pointers with 96 and trails Ashley Cox (1998-02) by six. Sydney Duggins ranks 22nd, while Dasia Maxwell is in 26th place. Emily Griffith is in 49th place.
 
· FREE THROWS – Emily Griffith is in 19th place with 211 free throws. She needs eight to tie Robin Cox (1992-96). Rachel Griffith is in 22nd place with 197. Emily also ranks fourth in career free throw percentage with a .812 percentage from the line.
 
· REBOUNDS – Emily Griffith is ranked 48th with 287 rebounds. She needs three to tie Marcie Stout (2009-11) for 47th place. Dasia Maxwell is 58th, while Cameryn DuBose is in 75th place and Rachel Griffith ranks 79th. 

· ASSISTS – Emily Griffith is in 17th place with 234 assists. She needs 29 to tie Chasity Williams (2002-06) for 16th. Rachel Griffith is 22nd with 201. Dasia Maxwell is in 70th place and Sydney Newsome is 93rd.

· BLOCKS – Emily Griffith is tied for 23rd with 39 career blocks with Cena Nasiloski (2008-10), six blocks (and five spots) ahead of teammate and fellow senior Dasia Maxwell. Cameryn DuBose is in 32nd place and Rachel Griffith is 54th.
 
· STEALS – Emily Griffith has 154 career steals, placing her at 13th. She needs seven to tie Lori Neely (1985-89) and Ashley Cox (1998-02). Rachel Griffith is in 19th place with 130.