HARROGATE, Tenn. --- Five players scored in double figures for Lincoln Memorial University in an 87-57 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball Wednesday evening at Tex Turner Arena.
Lauren Flowers and Matty Turner scored 17 points apiece and combined for nine of the 16 three-pointers made by the Railsplitters (12-4, 7-3 SAC), who snapped a three-game losing streak and ended a four-game home skid to the Pioneers.
Lexi Patty led the Pioneers (3-13, 1-9 SAC) in scoring for the second straight game with 15 points and Faith Silva added 11 for Tusculum, which shot 39.7 percent (23-for-58) from the field as a team and committed 22 turnovers which led to 26 LMU points.
Alexa Smiddy scored 15 points, Jordan Maney added 13 points and five rebounds and Chloe Savage tallied 10 points for the Railsplitters, who hit 43.7 percent (31-for-71) from the floor and 16-for-40 (40 percent) from beyond the three-point arc.
LMU dashed to an 8-0 lead behind three-pointers from Flowers and Smiddy before Tusculum got on the board with two foul shots from Patty with 6:45 left in the opening quarter. Two free throws by Maney gave the Railsplitters a 16-6 lead with 3:54 to go, part of a second 8-0 run that was capped by a Sophie Henry three-pointer with 1:21 left for a 21-6 lead. Patty made a basket in the closing minute to trim the LMU lead to 23-10 after one period.
A three-point play from the Pioneers' Carleigh Wilson in the first minute of the second quarter left Tusculum facing a 26-13 deficit, and the Pioneers would pull back within 10 at 28-18 on a Patty layup with 6:01 to go. Savage gave Lincoln Memorial its largest lead of the half at 39-22 on a layup with 2:19 remaining, and the Railsplitters would carry a 41-25 margin to intermission.
Patty led the Pioneers with nine points in the first half, with Silva scoring five points and four points and seven rebounds from Ni'Kiah Chesterfield. Tusculum shot 30.3 percent (10-for-33) from the field and went just 1-for-11 from long range. Flowers paced the Railsplitters with 10 points in the first half, with eight points apiece from Maney and Smiddy. LMU shot 45.5 percent (15-for-33) from the field and nailed seven three-pointers in 18 attempts in the half.
Silva sank a three-pointer in the first minute of the third quarter for the Pioneers, but threes from Flowers and Tanner were part of a 13-2 run for the Railsplitters for a 56-30 lead with 4:50 to go in the quarter. Savage pushed the LMU lead to 70-39 on two free throws with 53 seconds left in the quarter, but Jenna Kallenberg and Maddison Zugna scored buckets in the final 45 seconds to bring Tusculum within 70-43.
Tanner hit a three-pointer with 5:54 left to give Lincoln Memorial its largest lead at 83-47, but Tusculum would score 10 of the final 14 points.
Jordyn Roderick finished with a season-high nine points on 4-for-7 shooting in 12 minutes off the bench for Tusculum, while Zugna also shot 4-for-7 and had eight points along with three rebounds.
Lincoln Memorial finished the game with a 39-37 rebound advantage over Tusculum. The Railsplitters turned the ball over just nine times in the game, and the Pioneers did not score any points off the miscues.
Tusculum will play the second of three straight road games on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. at Lenoir-Rhyne. The Bears (13-5, 8-2 SAC) fell out of first place in the SAC with a 77-64 loss at Anderson on Wednesday evening.
