HARROGATE, Tenn. – In what symbolized a game of runs perhaps more so than any other contest thus far in 2020, the Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team fell behind early, slowly inched their way closer, then fell behind again in a 67-48 setback against in-state rival Tusculum Wednesday night.

Falling behind by as many as 13 points in what had been a nightmarish second quarter, the Lady Railsplitters (10-15, 9-12) regained their footing to find themselves down by just six at halftime, a spot they were perhaps fortunate to be in.

Continuing to gain traction against the Pioneers (21-6, 16-5) in a steady third quarter, getting as close to a one-point deficit, Tusculum reignited their offensive production to blow away LMU over the final 15 minutes.

Only able to muster a 29% shooting clip (14-47) behind a 35% mark from three-point territory, (7-20), the Lady Railsplitters managed to hold the Pioneers for as long as they could, although a 52% effort over the final 10 minutes put Lincoln Memorial away, resulting in the 19-point final decision.

An extremely tentative opening frame saw neither side break into double digits on the scoreboard, instead relegated to a 9-9 stalemate through the first 10 minutes. A three-ball from freshman point guard Lauren Flowers just one minute and 17 seconds into the game and another triple from Sydney Newsome just over four minutes later stood as the only two LMU field goals of the entire opening stanza.

Luckily, Tusculum wasn't exactly efficient themselves, only connecting on three buckets in total to account for the tie. The Pioneers slowly built up a credible lead over halfway into the second, but just when it seemed like LMU was on the edge of the danger zone, the Lady Railsplitters suddenly came to life.

Trailing 23-10 with only three minutes to go until the intermission, and yet to have a field goal over the first seven minutes of the second period, Lincoln Memorial closed the half on a lightning-quick 10-3 run to come within six points at the break.

Redshirt-sophomore Lexi Kiser finally broke the seven-minute drought by sinking a desperation triple, before Newsome recorded the team's last seven points of the quarter herself. The Morristown, TN native finished with 13 points, five rebounds, and three assists in the defeat.

It looked as if the Lady Railsplitters weren't slowed down in the slightest by the break in the action, opening the third frame on a 12-7 run to climb within one. A transition three-pointer from Flowers, the team's highest scorer with 15 on the night next to five boards, trimmed the lead down to 33-32 with 5:29 left in the period. The Pioneers never let LMU reclaim the advantage however, instead surging ahead in a game-altering flurry.

The next 11 points all went to the visitors as Lincoln Memorial fell behind to a position similar to the quarter beforehand, with a mid-range jumper from Flowers finally stopping the bleeding with only 33 seconds remaining in the quarter.

Tusculum put the Lady Railsplitters to bed in a one-sided fourth frame, outscoring LMU 23-14 after already creating a 10-point cushion approaching the final period. By the time Lincoln Memorial found their first make of the quarter, a Maggie Jachimczuk triple with 4:50 to go, the deficit was simply too large to overcome, with the Pioneers climbing to a 20-point advantage a handful of times down the stretch.

Kiser turned out to be the third and final member of the team to hit double figures in the scoring department with 11, reaching six of them at the foul line late in the contest, with Jachimczuk the next-closest in line with five points.

LMU's struggle to distribute the basketball was evident in the loss, and even though the rebounding discrepancy wasn't as overbearing as it was in the schools' first meeting, with the Pioneers barely inching out the blue and gray on the glass 40-38, Tusculum only turned the ball over seven times. In addition to their superb ball protection, the Pioneers registered an assist in 21 of their 22 made field goals.

With the victory, Tusculum has accomplished their first season sweep over LMU since the 2010-11 campaign, the last time they received an NCAA Tournament bid. The Pioneers also managed to pick up their first win inside Tex Turner Arena since the 2013-14 season, ending a six-year drought.

In the penultimate meeting of the regular season, the Lady Railsplitters proved to be too inconsistent on the offensive end to handle Tusculum's numerous second half runs, and thanks to a Wingate triumph over Queens, LMU now slumps to a tie for seventh place in the updated South Atlantic Conference standings.

Lenoir-Rhyne, the school that Lincoln Memorial finds themselves locked up with in the standings, has already swept them in 2020, meaning LMU would now be the # 8 seed if the conference tournament was the next date, the final slot allowed into the SAC's postseason single-elimination formatted bracket.
 
Up Next
 
Tasked with one of their most difficult season-closers in recent memory, the Lady Railsplitters will stay in Harrogate this Saturday, taking on #21/receiving votes Anderson from Tex Turner Arena. The Trojans, in a battle of the top two seeds in the conference Wednesday, bested Catawba 71-56 at home to reach a 23-4 overall record.

In LMU's first meeting with the Trojans back on January 18^th inside the Abney Athletic Center, Anderson reached a victory just one point off the exact final score from Lincoln Memorial's loss this evening to Tusculum, 67-49.

Saturday's season finale with Anderson will serve as Senior Day for two Lady Railsplitters, guard Kyndall Caudle and forward Shermeria Quarles.
 
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 more LMU women's basketball coverage across the 2019-20 season.