GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Lincoln Memorial University defeated Tusculum University 70-47 in South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.
Kamil Collier had 18 points and Lexi Patty added 17 points and seven boards for the 24th-ranked Railsplitters (17-3, 12-3 SAC), who outrebounded the Pioneers 50-39 and held Tusculum to 27.6 percent shooting (16-for-58) for the game. Four players finished in double figures for LMU, with Rachel Early scoring 14 points off the bench and Asia Barr connecting for 10 points to go along with five rebounds.
Martina Garofalo had 12 points and six rebounds for the Pioneers (2-19, 2-13 SAC) in the debut for interim head coach Michala Hash. Abbi Douglas had 10 points and Aisha Patel finished with eight points and six rebounds for the Pioneers, who were just 5-for-24 (20.8 percent) from three-point range and gave up 21 points to LMU on 15 turnovers.
Lincoln Memorial built a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter and held it the remainder of the game, going up by as many as 32 points late in the third quarter before the Pioneers outscored the Railsplitters 18-12 in the final quarter.
Collier shot 8-for-13 from the field for the Railsplitters, who hit just 36.9 percent (24-for-65) from the field and 8-for-38 on three-point attempts. Patty and Early each drilled three-pointers in the game for the Railsplitters, while Patel was 2-for-5 from deep for the Pioneers.
The Railsplitters jumped to a 9-2 lead after six minutes and built the lead to 17-5 with 47 seconds left in the first quarter on six straight points from Patty. Lincoln Memorial went up 33-14 on a three-pointer from Early with 4:07 left in the first half, and went up 40-19 at halftime as Patty finished with 17 points and Collier added 10. Patel led the Pioneers with five points in the first half as Tusculum shot 28 percent (7-for-25) from the field in the half.
Douglas had all 10 of her points in the second half and Garofalo had eight points and four rebounds in the second half as the Pioneers played the Railsplitters nearly even after intermission. Lincoln Memorial shot just 30.3 percent after halftime and went 4-for-22 from three-point range in the second half.
Julia Szwichtenberg finished with four points and six rebounds in nine minutes for the Pioneers, who had 12 offensive rebounds as a team and turned them into 13 second-chance points.
The Pioneers will travel to Catawba on Saturday, Feb. 7 for a 2 p.m. tipoff with the Indians, who defeated the Pioneers 64-56 in Greeneville on Dec. 13. Catawba has lost five in a row to drop to 7-13 overall and 5-10 in the SAC, letting a 14-point halftime lead slip away in a 56-51 loss at 17th-ranked Coker on Wednesday.
