HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The nationally-ranked Lady Railsplitter basketball team hosts Catawba Saturday afternoon, Jan. 14, in a meeting between two of the top teams in the South Atlantic Conference. LMU is currently 14-0 overall and 9-0 in SAC play coming into the game, their third in six days. The Lady Railsplitters are currently ranked sixth in the latest Division II SIDA National Media Poll and ninth in the WBCA/USA Today NCAA Division II Coaches Poll.
Catawba -- which returns eight players from last year's SAC Championship team, including three starters -- is 10-4 overall with a 7-2 record in SAC play. The Lady Railsplitters are one of only four undefeated teams remaining in the NCAA Division II as of this writing. That may change by Saturday as Colorado State-Pueblo plays MSU-Denver Friday evening. The other two teams, Ashland and Virginia Union, both play on Saturday. Currently, LMU sits atop the SAC standings with their 9-0 SAC record. Catawba, Anderson and Wingate are tied for second with 7-2 records after LMU defeated Anderson and Wingate defeated Catawba on Wednesday. In Lincoln Memorial's last game at Anderson, both teams struggled to find their offensive touch as LMU and Anderson both shot below 35 percent for the contest. Rebounding and free throws were the key as the Lady Railsplitters had their largest rebounding margin of the season, besting AU 55-38, and hit 70 percent of their free throw attempts to Anderson's 60 percent. LMU's Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) led all scorers with 19 points and also had 11 rebounds. It was her sixth double-double of the season. Josey Harding (Middletown, Ohio) had her fourth double-double of the year as she had 18 points, including a 12-15 performance from the free throw line, and a game-high 23 rebounds. Shea Coker (Knoxville, Tenn.) chipped in 18 points. Saturday's game will be video streamed live on the LMU Sports Network, and the Athletic Media Relations Office will be providing live stats. Fans listening on the radio can hear play-by-play with Rusty Peace on the LMU Sports Network at 91.3 WLMU-FM and online at www.913thegap.com.
