HARROGATE, TENN. – The Lincoln Memorial women's basketball team ended their 2021 home slate with a win, as they knocked off UVA-Wise with a 72-67 victory. The win pushed LMU back to .500 on the season at 5-5 and brought them to 3-4 in SAC play.
 
"It was a really good effort tonight from our team from top to bottom," head coach Devan Carter said. "Our toughness came into play tonight. We stepped in and took some charges, putting our bodies on the line and making those winning plays."
 
Both defenses shut down the opposing offenses early in the first quarter, as LMU only led 6-4 with less than four minutes to play in the period. The offenses heated up after that, with the LMU offense being led by Mikayla Kuehne's five points and Addi Kirkpatrick off the bench with four. Two late threes from the Cavaliers gave them the 16-15 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
 
The second quarter was the Mikayla Kuehne show as she led all scorers with seven points in the quarter while playing all ten minutes. After a jumper by Shaquala Walton, Kuehne scored five straight points for the Lady Railsplitters to give LMU a 22-21 lead. Lexi Kiser knocked down a three-pointer to increase the LMU advantage before Kuehne knocked down a jumper for her seventh point of the quarter. Lauren Flowers followed with another three for the Lady Railsplitters to further increase the lead. Both teams were scoreless over the last two and half minutes of play in the period, and Lincoln Memorial took a 30-27 edge heading into the half.
 
Kuehne got the scoring going in the third quarter to push the LMU lead to six. UVA-Wise responded with a 4-0 run to cut into the lead, but Irelynn Davisson answered right back with two three-pointers to push the lead back up to seven. Kuehne would knock down another three a few minutes later to increase the advantage to double-digits. The Cavaliers would score seven points in the final minutes of the quarter to get back into the game, but Davisson answered once more by knocking down two jump shots to give her 10 points in the quarter and give the Lady Railsplitters a 50-43 lead heading into the final period of play.
 
The fourth quarter started out just like the third, with Kuehne knocking down a three to push the lead back up to 10. The Cavaliers would cut back into the lead as the two teams traded baskets and UVA-Wise cut the LMU lead down to three with under three minutes to play. The Lady Railsplitters bounced right back as Lauren Flowers hit a jump shot then Lexi Kiser hit a dagger three-pointer with a 1:23 to play as they pushed the lead back up to seven. From there LMU took care of the ball and knocked down six free throws to ice the game.
 
"We had some older kids, like Davisson and Kuehne, step up and really help us out tonight," remarked Carter. "Mikayla played one of her most well-rounded games tonight, making the right decisions throughout the night, and sharing the ball really well."
 
Kuehne stuffed the stat sheet for the Lady Railsplitters tonight with a season-high 23 points, six assists, and four rebounds. Lauren Flowers was in double-figures for the second straight game as she poured in 15 points and pulled down seven boards. Davisson was also in double-figures as she scored 12.  
 
 
 Up Next
 The Lady Railsplitters conclude play in 2021 by going on the road to face Queens on Saturday. The Lady Railsplitters will return home on January 5th to play Newberry. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 PM.
  
 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.