GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --  After being down by one at the half, the Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball program shot 43.4 percent in the second half to leave Pioneer Arena with a 55-47 victory over Tusculum on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Lady Railsplitters got out to an early 6-0 lead, but the Pioneers crawled their way back to make it 6-5. The Pioneers went onto take a 11-9 on a pair of free-throws from Jordan Rodgers. The Blue and Gray defense then held Tusculum scoreless for the remainder of the period letting the Pioneers shoot just 25 percent in the first period. LMU's Mikayla Kuehne paved the way with 11 first-quarter points to give the Lady Railsplitters a 14-11 lead going into the second.
 
A combined total of just four made field goals between the teams proved that the beginning of the second frame came to a defensive battle. Tusculum retook the lead at the 8:31 mark on a three-point jumper from Mya Belton. LMU's Kassidy Kenny checked into the contest and drew a foul allowing her to even things up at the 7:58 mark with a pair of free throws. Both programs picked up the defensive pressure and it went onto be the Lady Railsplitters to break the scoreless streak courtesy of a driving layup from Shaquala Walton. Costly fouls late in the frame by the Splitters allowed the Pioneers to take a 25-24 lead into the break.
 
Coming out of the break, the Pioneers increased their lead to three, but Lincoln Memorial knocked down their first three of quarter behind Lindsay Proffitt. Proffitt went onto knock down five three-point shots in the third period only. LMU held onto a 30-27 lead for over two minutes before Tusculum was able to knock down a pair of free-throws. With a combined just two missed shots between the foes in the final minutes of the third, the Pioneers and Lady Railsplitters headed into the fourth, knotted up at 41 a piece.
 
The fourth quarter was another high defensive performance with the Lady Railsplitters able to force the Pioneers to miss key shots throughout the frame. Lincoln Memorial took the lead at the 9:48 mark of the fourth and did not look back. Tusculum pulled back to within three, but the Lady Railsplitters were able to keep the separation needed. Walton was a force for LMU in the fourth tallying seven fourth-quarter points to propel the Lady Railsplitters to a victory over Tusculum, 55-47.
 
Graduate student Mikayla Kuehne paced the Lady Railsplitters with her first double-double of the season with a season-high 21 points and 12 rebounds. Kuehne also added seven assists in the contest. Two other Splitters tallied double-digits as junior Shaquala Walton finished the afternoon with 14 points while senior Lindsay Proffitt added 12 points.
 
Up Next
 
The Lady Railsplitters will take a week off before traveling to Mars Hill for a match up with the Lions on Saturday, December 11 for a 2 p.m. ET tip-ff.
 
 
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.