HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team, closing out the regular season against the Anderson Trojans on senior day, was unable to keep up with the top seed in the South Atlantic Conference Saturday afternoon, falling 75-62 inside Tex Turner Arena.

Completing a 2020 sweep over the Lady Railsplitters for their fifth consecutive win in the series, the Trojans won their fifth straight outing overall as well, although it wasn't without difficulty.

LMU (10-16, 9-13) clung to a one-point advantage at the end of the first period, but thanks to a 21-6 extended run throughout the second frame in favor of the visitors, Lincoln Memorial fell behind by as many as 18 points.

An 8-0 flurry in the final minute of the third stanza cut the deficit to as little as 10 on two separate occasions, although that's as close as the Lady Railsplitters would get, ultimately failing to achieve an adequate number of stops down the stretch once their offensive production finally broke out of its slump.

Just over five minutes into the contest, a Sydney Newsome three-pointer helped LMU collect their largest lead of the day with a 9-2 advantage. Even though the Trojans (24-4, 19-3) were able to regain their composure and end the quarter on a 13-5 run, the Lady Railsplitters ended the period on top thanks to a Lauren Flowers layup with 40 seconds remaining in the quarter.

It took until the 3:34 mark of the second quarter for LMU to register their first field goal of the period, doing so on a three-ball by senior Kyndall Caudle, which put an end to a 12-0 Anderson rally. Only one other shot was made by the team for the rest of the quarter, also coming in Caudle's possession on a mid-range jumper with 1:16 to go until halftime.

This lull in offense allowed the Trojans to gather a 35-21 advantage at the intermission, with the lead only steadily growing across the third frame. Then the Lady Railsplitters came back to life and closed the quarter on one of their most inspired flurries of the 2019-20 season.

Trailing 57-39 with 1:23 remaining in the third, Lincoln Memorial brought in the next eight points to cut within 10. Three of the four field goals by LMU during this span came from Flowers, while the other was courtesy of redshirt-sophomore Lexi Kiser.

After some back-and-forth action to open up the fourth, the Lady Railsplitters were again closing in on a single-digit deficit, thanks to a post lay-in by senior Shermeria Quarles at the 8:11 mark, whittling the lead down to 60-50. Offensive rebounds and turnovers proved to be LMU's downfall though, and the Trojans reassumed control of the game from this point forward.

Anderson commanded the glass with a 44-31 cushion on the boards, relating to 14 second chance points. Eight of the Trojans' 17 points in the final frame came after an offensive rebound created the opportunity.

In addition, 14 LMU turnovers paved the way for Anderson to capitalize once their lead was threatened. 11 points by the visitors came after the Lady Railsplitters coughed the ball away, not to mention a 38-30 differential inside the painted area.

All together, the Trojans connected on 43% of their looks from the field, while Lincoln Memorial wasn't too far behind at 36%. Even when LMU notched their second-highest point output of the year for a single quarter with a 26-point burst in the third, they allowed 23 points at the same time, rendering their second quarter lapse a key factor in the 13-point decision.

Reigning South Atlantic Conference and Southeast Region Player of the Year Alexy Mollenhauer lived up to her billing in the victory, garnering a monster double-double of 26 points along with 15 rebounds. Madison Baggett finished the afternoon with 14 more points on a 6-7 performance from the floor.

Free throws were a major concern for Lincoln Memorial in the defeat, with a 61.9% effort from the charity stripe in 21 attempts. Those missed opportunities deeply hurt the Lady Railsplitters, especially in the second half when they were attempting their double-digit comeback.

Of the Trojans' 26 made buckets in total, 13 of them were assisted. LMU was able to match Anderson's efficient offensive production for the most part in the second half thanks to a much-needed 18 points from their bench, an especially impressive figure considering they had zero over the first 20 minutes.

Saturday served as the final home appearance for three Lincoln Memorial players, Newsome, Caudle, and Quarles. After being recognized before tip-off, Newsome led the team in scoring with 14 points despite a 3-12 mark from the field. Caudle and Quarles both added 8 apiece in their final Harrogate appearance, while junior Maggie Jachimczuk contributed 11 in the loss.

Finishing the regular season with three straight losses against the top three teams in the conference from a statistical standpoint, having also fallen to Catawba and Tusculum, LMU drops to 4-5 across the month of February, but will still make an appearance in the SAC Tournament Quarterfinal round on Wednesday as the # 8 seed.
 
Up Next
 
Due to the layout of the league standings, the Lady Railsplitters will be forced to turn right around for another matchup against Anderson in the round of eight for the conference tourney.

Travelling to the Abney Athletic Center, since the top four seeds in the league host the opening round, LMU will meet the Trojans for the third time this season and second time in five days.

A tip-off time from the Palmetto State hasn't yet been determined. If Lincoln Memorial is able to pull off the upset over Anderson in the Quarterfinals, they will meet the winner of the Newberry vs. Catawba contest, to also be held on Wednesday night. That Semifinal matchup would take place on Saturday afternoon from Timmons Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.
 
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.