Lions Fall to Railsplitters

MARS HILL, N.C.-Lincoln Memorial overcame a 12-point deficit to defeat Mars Hill 65-58 in South Atlantic Conference action in Stanford Arena Wednesday evening.

The Lions built a 12-point advantage midway through the first half, but an early second half run gave the Railsplitters enough cushion to earn the victory. Ansley Ricker led MHC with 18 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists and four steals. Kalasia Green paced Lincoln Memorial with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Mars Hill fell to 3-8 overall and 0-3 in SAC play. LMU is now 8-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play.

Cadence Wilmoth came off the bench to score nine points for the Lions. Armeka Booker added eight points and 11 rebounds for MHC, while Erica Warren came away with six steals and scored six points. Mars Hill shot 31.1 percent from the field (19-of-61) and hit 17-of-29 from the free throw line (58.6 percent).

Kelsey Bradford added 14 points for the Railsplitters. MaRanda Boddie scored six points and grabbed eight rebounds. LMU connected on 25-of-64 from the field (39.1 percent) and outscored the Lions 32-20 in the paint.

The two teams traded big first half runs. A 13-1 first half run helped break open the game early for Mars Hill. An Erica Warren steal and lay-in broke a 7-7 tie and started the run before Ricker caught fire. After a Kristen Metcalf and Cadence Wilmoth each hit free throws, Ricker scored the Lions next nine points to push the MHC lead to 20-8 with 12:01 to play. The Lions held the Railsplitters without a field goal for a span of 4:09.

LMU responded with an 11-1 run of their own to close the score back to within 21-19. Green scored seven points during the Railplitter run. LMU rallied to take the lead in the closing seconds as Miranda Davenport hit a floater to give the Railsplitters a 34-32 lead at the half.

MHC hit 33.3 percent of their shots from the floor (9-of-27) in the half and hit 11-of-19 free throws (57.9 percent). LMU connected on 39.4 percent from the field (13-of-33) and outscored the Lions 14-8 in the paint in the first half.

A 9-3 run to open the second half opened up an eight-point lead for the Railsplitters. Five points from Boddie and four points from Green provided the offense during the run, which resulted in a 43-35 lead for LMU with 16:57 to play.

Mars Hill hit right back with an 8-2 run to close the deficit to two. A Wilmoth bucket off the glass was countered by a stick-back by Edina Musa before the Lions ripped off six straight points. Warren came away with a steal and found Autumn Ward for an easy lay-in to cut the Railsplitter lead to six. Briana Bonaparte knifed through a double-team to score off the glass before a tough jumper by Warren in traffic cut the score to 45-43 with 12:41 to play.

The Railplitters countered with a 7-0 run of their own, after which the Lions would get no closer than three the rest of the way. A jumper by Brittney Guy, a shot off the glass by Ralissa Nelson and a Green three gave LMU a 52-43 lead with 11:05 to play.

The Lions closed to the deficit to 61-58 in the closing minutes on a baseline jumper by Ricker. A free throw by Boddie pushed the lead back to two possessions before Mariah Richardson drained a three with the shot-clock winding down to put the game out of reach.

Mars Hill will host Wingate at 2:00 p.m. in South Atlantic Conference action at Stanford Arena this Saturday, Jan. 12.