GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Alexa Smiddy scored a game-high 24 points and Lauren Flowers finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds as Lincoln Memorial University picked up a 60-51 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball Wednesday evening at Pioneer Arena.
The Railsplitters (16-7, 11-6 SAC) shot just 35.2 percent (19-for-54) from the field as a team, but sank 10 pointers in 29 attempts while the Pioneers (3-20, 1-16 SAC) were just 4-for-20 from beyond the arc. Tusculum shot 35.8 percent (19-for-53) from the field and outrebounded Lincoln Memorial by a 37-33 margin.
Ni'Kiah Chesterfield led the Pioneers with 12 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots, while Jenna Kallenberg had 10 points and four boards. Delana DeBusk added eight points and four assists for the Pioneers, with Carleigh Wilson contributing six points and a team-high eight rebounds. Off the bench, Monique Shim returned after a four-game absence and had six points and three rebounds along with two steals in 20 minutes of playing time.
Smiddy, who scored 15 of her 24 points in the second half, was 6-for-11 from three-point range for Lincoln Memorial while Flowers was 4-for-8 from beyond the arc for the Railsplitters. Geovana Rios had seven points and nine rebounds and Jordan Maney finished with eight points along with five assists.
The teams swapped the lead four times in the first quarter, with neither team leading by more than three points until Flowers beat the buzzer with a three-pointer to give Lincoln Memorial a 16-11 lead after one period.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Kallenberg and Shim put Tusculum back ahead 17-16 with 7:52 left in the first half, but an 8-2 run by Lincoln Memorial put the Railsplitters on top 29-23 on a layup by Chloe Savage with 4:04 to go. A Smiddy three-pointer put Lincoln Memorial up 32-25 with 3:09 to go, but a layup from Chesterfield and a three-pointer from Shim brought Tusculum back within 32-30 at intermission.
Flowers led the Railsplitters with 12 points and six rebounds in the first half, while Smiddy had nine points and Maney added seven. Lincoln Memorial shot 36.4 percent (12-for-33) as a team but went 7-for-17 from three-point range in the first half. Tusculum was led by 10 points from Chesterfield and six from Shim, as the Pioneers were 13-for-24 (54.2 percent) from the floor but had eight turnovers which led to 10 points for the Railsplitters.
Tusculum trailed 35-32 after a layup from Chesterfield with 6:36 left in the third quarter, but that would be the only field goal of the period for the Pioneers who were 1-for-12 from the floor. Tusculum went scoreless for nearly four minutes to end the third quarter as Lincoln Memorial built its lead to 42-36 heading to the fourth.
Lincoln Memorial took its largest lead of the game at 47-36 on a layup by Rios with 9:12 to play, but Tusculum moved within 53-48 on a three-pointer from Faith Silva with 3:15 to go. Lincoln Memorial was held without a field goal for the final 3:41, but went 7-for-10 from the foul line to maintain its lead.
The Pioneers will host Coker on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Pioneer Arena. The Cobras (14-10, 8-9 SAC) are in sole possession of seventh place in the SAC despite dropping its second straight on Wednesday night with a 60-50 loss at Lenoir-Rhyne. Coker beat Tusculum 87-71 in the first meeting of the season between the teams on Dec. 9 at Coker.
