HARROGATE, Tenn. – Welcome to March. The regular season is done and dusted and now it's time to survive and advance as LMU opens up play in the Pilot Flying J SAC Basketball Championships this Wednesday as they travel to Carson-Newman for a quarterfinal round game.

LMU (15-13) has one simple goal – win. Win once and you are in Greenville for the semifinals. Win three times and you are SAC Tournament Champions and get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Win six times and you are in the Elite Eight. Win nine times and you are national champions. One team will do it, why not us?

First up, a trip to third-seeded Carson-Newman, who have already defeated LMU twice this season. There is an old adage about it being hard to defeat a team three times in a season, but it can be done, as LMU did to C-N in the 2016-17 and 1988-89 seasons. C-N did it to LMU in 1981-82, 1983-84 and 1984-85. The winner of this game advances to face the winner of Tusculum vs. Wingate, who meet for the second time in four days this Wednesday.

LMU enters the tournament having lost in the final seconds at Lenoir-Rhyne this past Saturday 58-55. The lead see-sawed back and forth throughout the game, with the Bears nursing a one-point lead with 20 seconds to go. LMU got the ball to Rachel Griffith, who attempted to drive baseline and was bumped. When bumped, she was called for stepping on the baseline. LMU was forced to foul, and L-R hit both to seal the win. Rachel Griffith then tried a long three-pointer at the buzzer, but it rolled around the rim and fell out.

Emily Griffith had a nice all-around day, leading LMU in scoring (18 points), rebounding (eight) and assists (four). Her twin sister Rachel chipped in 13 points, while fellow senior Dasia Maxwell had seven rebounds and a block in her final regular season game. Madeline Hardy came off the bench to lead Lenoir-Rhyne with 14 points and eight rebounds. Madi Suddreth scored 13 points in her final regular-season home game and Kennedy Weigt chipped in 10 points.

One other happening of note that we want to mention (and include in the graphic above) is Emily Griffith becoming the 20th Lady Railsplitter to surpass 1,000 points this past Saturday. She took a pass from freshman Jordan Maney while coming off a screen, drove a few steps into the paint just past the free throw line, stopped and hit the pull-up jumper with 4:32 remaining in the third quarter. The senior, who entered her final season with 542 points, has had one of the more remarkable runs to the millennial mark in LMU history as no senior has come from that far down in just 28 games to reach that mark. She currently has the 15th-best point total in a season with 464 points. Due to the nature of the post-season, Emily being a senior, and the fact that LMU is on the road from here on out, she will not be able to be recognized at home in the traditional way. So here is some love, Emily, and congratulations!
 
SERIES HISTORY
· LMU trails C-N in the all-time series 52-45, mainly due to a long winning streak by the Eagles in the late 1970s-early 1980s under legendary C-N head coach Lewis Bivins. LMU has won nine of the last 15 meetings and is 17-31 in Jefferson City.

· In their last meeting, on Jan. 30, LMU dug themselves a deep 19-point hole, but a huge third quarter comeback cut the lead to two points early in the fourth. The Lady Railsplitters were unable to capitalize and C-N pulled the lead back to double-digits on late free throws as they held on to win 81-71. Lindsay Proffitt had 18 points to lead LMU in scoring as she went 4-4 from three-point range. Emily Griffith scored 17 points and also had five rebounds and five assists, while Rachel Griffith chipped in 14 points.
 
SCOUTING C-N
· C-N enters the game with a 22-6 record. They finished SAC play tied with Wingate at 15-5 in SAC games, but Wingate won the tiebreaker by virtue of their season sweep over the Eagles.
 
· Haris Price leads the Eagles in scoring (18.9 points a game), assists (3.2 a game) and steals (2.3 a game). Kayla Marosites is averaging 14.3 points a game, Addison Byrd 12.6 ppg and Briana Smith 12.3 ppg.
 
· Kayla Marosites also leads the team in rebounding with 11.2 a game. She is also second in steals with 2.1 a game. She ranks second in the SAC in rebounds, defensive rebounds, and rebounds per game and is first in offensive rebounds. She also ranks second in three-point percentage, behind LMU's Lindsay Proffitt.
 
· As a team, the Eagles are outscoring their opponents 81.9 to 68.8 points a game, and out-rebounding their opponents by a +3.0 margin.
 
· Price is second in the SAC in scoring and Kayla Marosites ranks ninth.
 
· The Eagles lead the SAC in points, points per game, and free throw percentage. They are second in assists per game and turnovers per game.
 
· Like LMU, C-N features a pair of identical twins in Kayla and Kelci Marosites. The two are juniors this season.
 
SCOUTING LMU
· Head Coach Krystal Evans is in her fifth season at LMU. She has a 92-56 overall record.
 
· Emily Griffith and her twin sister Rachel currently lead the team in scoring, with Emily edging out Rachel 16.6 points a game to 13.8. In the SAC, Emily ranks fourth in total points, fifth in assists and points per game, ninth in steals and third in made field goals while Rachel is ninth in scoring, sixth in assists, seventh in assist to turnover ratio, eleventh in steals, and third in made free throws. Sydney Newsome has 8.0 points a game, while Lindsay Proffitt has 7.0 and Dasia Maxwell has 6.8.
 
· Rebounding is a team effort this season as Maggie Jachimczuk leads the team with 5.2 rebounds a game, followed closely by Newsome with 5.0 a game. Dasia Maxwell and Emily Griffith (4.2 per game each) are not far behind while Shermeria Quarles has a 3.9 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 1.7. Newsome and Maxwell have 1.3 a game each.
 
· LMU has the top three-point shooters in the SAC in Lindsay Proffitt as she leads the SAC with 45.3 percent. Sydney Duggins not far behind, but is not listed in the SAC standings because she has fallen below the minimum number per game. Rachel Griffith is 18th.
 
· As a team, LMU is averaging 73.6 points a game while holding opponents to 71.1. They are out-rebounding opponents by a margin of +5.3 a game.
 
· LMU leads the SAC in made free throws a game, free throw attempts, and offensive rebounds per game. They are second in three-point percentage, field goal 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; are sixth in free throw percentage, assists per game and made three-pointers per game.
 
RECORD WATCH
· POINTS – As mentioned earlier, Emily Griffith has become the 20th Lady Rassilsplitter to reach 1,000 points. She currently has 1006 and is 21 behind no. 19 Nickie Snow's (1984-88) 1,027 points. Rachel Griffith isn't far behind at 30th with 870 points.
 
· FIELD GOALS – Emily Griffith is 21st with 385 while Rachel Griffith is 34th. Dasia Maxwell is in 64th place.
 
· THREE-POINTERS – Rachel Griffith ranks 11th in made three pointers with 98 and trails Ashley Cox (1998-02) by four. Sydney Duggins ranks 22nd, while Dasia Maxwell is in 26th place. Emily Griffith is in 47th place.
 
· FREE THROWS – Emily Griffith is in 19th place with 214 free throws. She needs five to tie Robin Cox (1992-96). Rachel Griffith is in 20th place with 202. Emily also ranks fourth in career free throw percentage with a .811 percentage from the line.
 
· REBOUNDS – Emily Griffith is ranked 44th with 295 rebounds. She needs ten to tie Jamie Jackson (2003-05) for 43rd place. Dasia Maxwell is 55th, while Cameryn DuBose is in 72nd place and Rachel Griffith ranks 76th. 

· ASSISTS – Emily Griffith is in 17th place with 238 assists. She needs 25 to tie Chasity Williams (2002-06) for 16th. Rachel Griffith is 22nd with 204. Dasia Maxwell is in 70th place and Sydney Newsome is 92nd.

· BLOCKS – Emily Griffith is tied for 23rd with 39 career blocks with Cena Nasiloski (2008-10), five blocks (and five spots) ahead of teammate and fellow senior Dasia Maxwell. Cameryn DuBose is in 32nd place and Rachel Griffith is in 54th.
 
· STEALS – Emily Griffith has 155 career steals, placing her at 13th. She needs six to tie Lori Neely (1985-89) and Ashley Cox (1998-02). Rachel Griffith is in 19th place with 130.