GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — A 10-0 run in the final three minutes boosted Lincoln Memorial University to a 79-70 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball Wednesday evening at Pioneer Arena.
Matty Tanner scored a season-high 28 points and Lexi Patty added a career-best 18 points off the bench for the Railsplitters (7-8, 6-6 SAC), who let an early 13-point lead slip away before outscoring the Pioneers 11-4 in the final minute. Lincoln Memorial was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field as a team in the fourth quarter and 10-for-13 at the foul line in the period.
Ni’Kiah Chesterfield paced the Pioneers (6-10, 4-8 SAC) with 18 points and eight rebounds, with Jalyn Spurlin adding 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Zoe Sharpe had a season-high 12 points in her first career start for Tusculum, which did not lead until a steal and layup by Spurlin put the Pioneers ahead 64-62 with 5:34 remaining.
Lincoln Memorial finished the game shooting 48 percent (24-for-50) from the field, including 10-for-23 from three-point range, and the Railsplitters were 21-for-30 at the foul line. Tanner hit seven three-pointers in 12 attempts for Lincoln Memorial, while Asia Barr was 3-for-5 from deep and had nine points. Patty was 10-for-12 from the foul line for LMU, which received 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds from Kamil Collier.
The Pioneers shot 42.2 percent (27-for-64) as a team and were 6-for-17 from deep, while going 10-for-16 at the free throw line. Monique Shim and Carleigh Wilson each hit a pair of threes for the Pioneers, with Chesterfield shooting 8-for-14 from the field and Spurlin 6-for-12.
The Railsplitters raced out to an 11-0 lead after five minutes as Tanner sank four three-pointers in the opening quarter. The Pioneers got on the board on a basket by Chesterfield midway through the period, but faced a 17-4 deficit before rallying back to within 19-12 by the end of the quarter.
Tusculum cut the deficit to 22-18 on a three-pointer from Chesterfield with 8:02 left in the half, but Lincoln Memorial built its lead back to 34-24 on the fifth three-pointer of the half by Tanner with 3:24 to go. A three-point play from Chesterfield and a three-pointer from Shim helped Tusculum trail by a 38-32 margin at halftime.
Tanner led all players with 18 points in the first half for Lincoln Memorial, while Patty had 10. Chesterfield paced Tusculum with 14 points, as the Pioneers shot 41.9 percent (13-for-31) from the field while the Railsplitters were just behind at 40.6 percent (13-for-32), including 7-for-16 from three-point territory.
Tusculum continued to chip away at the Lincoln Memorial lead in the third quarter, using a layup from Abbi Douglas to pull within 47-44 with 5:19 remaining in the period. The LMU lead would return to seven points on baskets by Alexa Smiddy and Patty, but Tusculum got buckets from Spurlin and Danyell Booker in the final two minutes before two free throws from Collier sent the Railsplitters to the fourth with a 55-50 advantage.
Tanner put the Railsplitters ahead 58-52 on a three-pointer with 9:10 to play, but Sharpe scored five points in 40 seconds to cut the margin to 60-57 with 7:47 to go. After a layup by Collier with 7:13 left put Lincoln Memorial on top 62-57, the Pioneers rattled off seven straight points to take the lead. Douglas made two foul shots, Wilson hit a tying three with 5:56 to play and Spurlin converted a layup with 5:34 left for a 64-62 Pioneer advantage.
Tusculum’s last lead was at 66-65 on a basket by Chesterfield with 3:09 to go, but Lincoln Memorial took the lead for good at 68-66 on the seventh three-pointer of the game from Tanner with 2:16 remaining. The Pioneers missed on five shots to tie or take the lead in a span of 45 seconds, and Caroline Sikkink converted on a three-point play with 46 seconds to go to stretch the Lincoln Memorial lead to 71-66. LMU made nine straight foul shots in the final minute while the Pioneers scored just one basket in the last three minutes of the game.
Sharpe reached double figures in scoring for the first time this season with her 12 points, which came on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and included a three-pointer. Booker added seven points in 15 minutes off the bench for the Pioneers, while Wilson, Shim and Douglas all had six points apiece. Barr and Smiddy each had nine points for the Railsplitters, with Smiddy dishing out a team-high four assists.
Both teams finished with 36 rebounds, while Tusculum had 15 turnovers to 21 for Lincoln Memorial. LMU scored 17 points off Tusculum’s turnovers while the Pioneers had 16 points off the Railsplitters’ miscues.
Tusculum will host SAC-leading Coker on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. at Pioneer Arena. The nationally-ranked Cobras improved to 14-1 overall and 10-1 in the SAC with their seventh straight win on Wednesday night, a 58-50 victory over Catawba. Coker beat Tusculum 86-54 in the first meeting of the season between the teams on Dec. 14 in Hartsville, South Carolina.
