Harrogate, TN – Lincoln Memorial women's basketball opens the 2026-2027 season with a 80-78 victory over the Bluefield State Big Blue Monday evening.
The Big Blue began the game by applying a lot of defensive pressure and it paid off, as they put up 12 points off LMU's nine turnovers. LMU was outshot in the first quarter, as the Railsplitters went 4/8 from the field, with
Kallie Housley leading the squad with seven points, and Bluefield State went 12/22, leaving LMU trailing after the end of quarter one 14-25.
Lincoln Memorial picked up the intensity in the second quarter, gaining the lead with 3:50 minutes remaining and carrying that for the remainder of the half, including a 19-8 run in the last 5 minutes. They stepped up on both sides of the court, scoring 14 points off 10 forced turnovers, and forcing the Big Blue to commit 10 fouls.
Keyonee Neal took the spotlight as she led the quarter with eight points to boost Lincoln Memorial to over double BSU's points with 31-13 in the second quarter, helping Lincoln Memorial take the 45-38 lead going into the halftime break.
The third quarter was more of a battle, as scoring went back and forth with the largest run that LMU could put together was a 5-point run. The Railsplitters relied more on second chance points this quarter as LMU led with 6-2, but the boards were heavy as each team recorded 15 rebounds. With Housley leading once again in the third with six points, LMU topped BSU in scoring in the third 17-16, leaving Lincoln Memorial in the lead 62-55.
The Railsplitters were able to draw some key fouls in the final quarter, allowing two Big Blue players to foul out of the game and to give them seven trips to the charity stripe, shooting 7/13, including a 4/5 from
Kelsie Woodard. Turnovers and rebounds would seem to keep Bluefield State in the game with 19 rebounds and LMU committing nine turnovers, as BSU brought the game to a one possession game with thirty seconds remaining. Despite the Big Blue decreasing the margin, the Railsplitters knock off the Big Blue 80-78.
Four Railsplitters finished the night in double digits, with Housley leading the pack with 18 points and six rebounds, followed by Neal with 16 points and five rebounds,
Sajol Thornhill with 14 points and four rebounds, and Woodard with ten points and eight rebounds. Cat Guillame followed with seven points, and behind her was
Hannah Miller and
Julia Szwichtenberg with five points each, with Swichtenberg also recording two blocks on the night.
Chassidy Fedd and
Abethany James rounded out the scoring with three and two points, respectively, with James registering team high five assists.
As a team, Lincoln Memorial's scoring occurred mostly in the paint and off turnovers, as LMU scored 34 points in the paint and 29 points off 23 Big Blue turnovers. In terms of shooting, Lincoln Memorial went 25/55 from the field, 35% from the three, and 22/40 from the free-throw line. On the boards, Bluefield State topped LMU 22-12.
With the win, Lincoln Memorial improves to 1-0 overall and the Big Blue drops to 0-1 overall.
The team will now have a few days off as they travel to Spartanburg, SC to compete in the Conference Crossover, facing King on Friday, November 13
th and Converse on Saturday, November 14
th.
