HARROGATE, TENN. – When a rival comes to town it's always going to be a battle, and that's exactly what went on this evening in Tex Turner Arena, as the Lincoln Memorial women's basketball team and the Carson-Newman battled all game long. The Eagles were able to make a few more plays down the stretch and pulled out a 68-61 victory.
 
The two teams traded points early on until back-to-back threes from Lexi Kiser and Mikayla Kuehne pushed LMU in front 8-5. After an Eagle basket cut into the lead, Irelynn Davisson hit the third Lady Railsplitter trey of the game to increase their lead. A jumper by Lindsay Proffitt and another three from Kuehne brought the LMU lead to 16-11. The Eagles would hit a three of their own in the final seconds of the period, and give the Blue and Gray a two-point advantage after 10 minutes of play.
 
Another three from Kuehne got the scoring started in the second period. Carson-Newman answered back and cut the lead down to one but a jumper from Proffitt ended the Eagle run. The Eagles responded back with an 11-2 run to close out the half and went into the locker room with a 29-23 lead.
 
Both offenses came out of the locker room firing in the third quarter, combining for 44 points in the period. The Eagles pushed their lead up to 11, but the Lady Railsplitters answered right back with a 10-2 run, propelled by threes from Kuehne and Davisson to bring the deficit down to three. Carson-Newman increased their lead up to nine, but LMU was up for the challenge again, ending the half on a 12-1 run, with Davisson knocking down another from distance and Lauren Flowers igniting the run with an and-1 layup and finishing it off with four straight free throws giving LMU the 49-47 lead heading into the final period of play.
 
Just 14 seconds in the quarter, Kuehne hit her fifth three of the game to give the Lady Railsplitters a five-point advantage. The Eagles answered back to retake the lead, but Davisson gave the lead right back to LMU with fourth make from behind the arc. A 6-0 run by Newman gave them the lead again, one they would not relinquish. The Lady Railsplitters kept fighting, as Proffitt knocked down one from downtown and Flowers hit another free throw to bring it to a one-point game. That was as close as LMU would get, as the Eagles closed out the game with another 6-0 run to secure the victory.

"We've got to find a way to close out games better, we gave ourselves a chance in the third quarter and put ourselves in a great position to close it out but had some lapses down the stretch and went cold in the fourth quarter," remarked head coach Devan Carter. "I'll take the fall for this loss."
 
Kuehne was the high scorer in the game with 19 points, hitting 5-11 threes, handing out five assists, and grabbing four rebounds. Proffitt poured in 13 and added two steals defensively. Davisson was the third Lady Railsplitter in double-figures, scoring 12, on four three-pointers. Lauren Flowers scored eight points, dished out five assists, and pulled down five rebounds.
 
"We've got to get ready for Wingate, it's another game that we are going to have to grind out," said Carter. "We're going to have to be tough and rebound the ball."
 
Up Next
The Lady Railsplitters stay at home on Saturday as they welcome SAC leading Wingate to Tex Turner Arena. Tip-off is set for 2:00 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.