HARROGATE, TENN. – The season couldn't have started much better for the Lincoln Memorial women's basketball team as they cruised to an 82-52 victory over Converse in their season opener. Lincoln Memorial led the entire game, and graduate transfer Irelynn Davisson paced the Lady Railsplitter's attack scoring 22 points in her LMU debut.
 
The Lady Railsplitters blitzed out to a 12-4 lead early in the first quarter and never looked back taking a 16-11 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes of play. Davisson stepped up in the second quarter, scoring 11 points in the quarter after knocking down three three-pointers. The LMU defense gave Converse problems all half long, forcing 12 Valkyrie turnovers. The Lady Railsplitters had some turnover issues in the first half as well, coughing up the rock 12 times themselves, and only able to take a 33-27 lead into the break.
 
"We were working out some kinks in the first half, and had to overcome some uncharacteristic mistakes, and at the half we just talked about how we to be more detailed in the second half," said head coach Devan Carter. "Our energy was much better in the second half, especially defensively."
 
The defense forced 13 more turnovers in the second half and held the Valkyries to 34 percent shooting in the half. That second half energy was not only evident defensively, but also on the glass, as the Lady Railpslitters out-rebounded Converse 48-30, including 24-13 in the second half. LMU would go on to outscore the Valkyries 49-25 in the third and fourth quarters to put the game on ice.
 
Lincoln Memorial went on a 15-6 scoring run early in the third quarter to take a commanding lead, and just kept adding on from there, increasing their lead to 52-39 at the end of the third quarter. Davisson highlighted the quarter with eight points, including two more three-pointers as she continued to make a strong impression in her debut.
 
The fourth quarter was all LMU, as they went on two more big runs to seal the victory. They went on a 15-5 run to start the quarter and then followed that up with a 15-2 run later in the quarter. Shaquala Walton was the catalyst of the runs, as she scored eight points in the quarter to lead LMU. Overall, the ladies in blue and gray outscored Converse 30-13 in the last quarter.
 
LMU shot 61 percent from the field in the second half, including 41 percent from three, and they handled the Converse press defense well, only committing 11 turnovers in the half.
 
Davisson led all scorers with 22 points on 8-12 shooting, including 6-8 from behind the arc. Shaquala Walton nearly put up a double-double as she contributed 10 points and nine rebounds, and brought lots of energy defensively. Lauren Flowers was the third Lady Railsplitter in double-figures as she scored 12 points, while Geovana Rios provided an offensive spark off the bench with 10 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
 
"Davisson can flat out play. She has come in and been the undisputed leader of our team. She walked in from day one, and has just lead our team and our locker room," Carter remarked.
 
The Lady Railpslitters look to carry their second half momentum over into tomorrow's matchup with King, who dropped a heartbreaker to Limestone in the first game of the day.
 
"We have to be ready for King tomorrow, as they are going to throw a lot of different defenses at us, so we just have to get out kids ready for that," stated Carter. "We have to improve upon today to continue to get ready for the opening of South Atlantic Conference play.
 
Up Next
The Lady Railsplitters will be back in action tomorrow afternoon as they host King at 4 p.m. EST as part of the SAC/Peach Belt Conference challenge. They open SAC play the following Wednesday as they welcome in Anderson at 5:30 p.m. EST. 
 
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 throughout the 2021-22 season.