HARROGATE, Tenn. - In a battle of undefeated teams, the Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team fell short Saturday afternoon inside B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena as Tusculum pulled out the victory by a score of 57-53. With the loss, LMU drops to 2-1 (2-1 SAC) on the season.

Brianna Dixon got the scoring started for Tusculum with a jumper before Maggie Jachimczuk tied it up with a layup. The teams struggled to score for the next few minutes as the score was tied at 4-4 after an Addi Kirkpatrick layup. A three pointer by Lexi Kiser gave the Lady Railsplitters an early three point lead before the teams went back and forth. The lead went to five on another Kirkpatrick layup, but the Pioneers closed to within three on a Maddie Sutton free throw near the end of the first quarter.

The lead stayed between three and five points before two Lindsay Proffitt free throws extended the lead to six. The Pioneers closed to within one before another Kiser three pointer gave LMU a 25-21 lead. The teams continued to go back and forth before two consecutive baskets by Sutton tied the game at 27 going into the half.

Coming out of halftime, a Kiser basket gave the Lady Railsplitters a brief lead before a Marta Rodrigues three pointer gave the Pioneers their first lead in two quarters. Tusculum continued to keep up the pressure on the offensive end and took a 36-31 lead, but LMU went on a 6-1 run to tie the game at 37. Another Sutton layup gave the Pioneers a two point lead heading into the final stanza. 

Tusculum scored seven consecutive points to open the fourth quarter, but the Lady Railsplitters would not go away. A Kiser jumper, a Flowers and-one, and two Proffitt free throws closed LMU to within two with six minutes to play. Another Rodrigues three pointer extended the lead to 51-47 with just over three minutes to play, but the Lady Railsplitters tied the game with 1:22 to play. The teams traded baskets again before a Jalia Arwine basket provided the final lead change of the day. Two Sutton free throws in the last two seconds provided the final margin.

Despite the loss, there were several positives for the Lady Railsplitters. Flowers led the team with 18 points and seven rebounds while Kiser had 14 points and three rebounds. Proffitt and Jachimczuk also factored in heavily on the offensive end as they each had eight points.

Next Up
The Lady Railsplitters will look to get back to their winning ways this coming Tuesday, Dec. 1 as they take on Bluefield State (W. Va.) on the road at 5:30 p.m.

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 Lady Railsplitter basketball during the 2020-21 season.