Mars Hill drops eighth straight in road loss to Lincoln Memorial

HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Mars Hill women's basketball team was defeated in their eighth straight game, falling at the hands of Lincoln Memorial, 107-62, on Monday evening. Mariah Johnson had a team-high 16 points.

The Railsplitters' explosive first quarter set the tone for the remainder of the contest. With the game scoreless after the first 1:30, Lincoln Memorial's Maggie Jachimczuk hit a jump shot to break the deadlock. They would lead by as many as 16 with 2:56 remaining in the opening frame. The Railsplitters would go on a 22-8 run in just under 5:30 of the first. The teams would trade points for the remainder of the frame, but the Lions could not close the gap within reason. Lincoln Memorial carried a 34-17 lead into the second quarter.

In a more tightly contest frame, Sheena Johnson's 3-pointer opened the scoring of the second stanza. With two seconds remaining in the half, Johnson bookended the second quarter with another 3-pointer. In between Johnson's six second quarter points, both teams' played strong defense to minimize scoring. Midway through the quarter, the Railsplitters' put together a 6-5 run. They would add five straight over the next minute and change to go extend their run to 11-5 while increasing their lead to 23 points with just under four minutes remaining. The Lions ended the half on an 8-6 run, but found themselves trailing by 21 entering halftime.

Shea Coker led the Railsplitters' offense with 13 points in the opening 20 minutes, going 6-of-10 from the field. Cameryn DuBose pulled down five rebounds.

Mariah Johnson scored 11 points in the half, going 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Tiffany Holloway and Gabby Gianikos each had three rebounds in the half.

The second half saw a return of the first quarter Lincoln Memorial squad as they outscored the Lions 29-19 and 27-13, respectively. Mars Hill would not be able to close the gap and ultimately dropped the contest 107-62.

Kyndall Caudle and Qua Hines each put up 11 points for the Railsplitters, going a combined 7-of-8 from the field. Shermeria Quarles and Hines each added four rebounds. Coker ended the contest with a game-high 16 points. Six other Railsplitters amassed 10 or more points.

Alexus Grubbs led Mars Hill with nine points in the half, going 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Holloway picked up another four rebounds. Shayla Smith had six points from the bench.

Mars Hill falls to 1-9 (0-3 SAC) while Lincoln Memorial improves to 5-3 (2-1 SAC).

The Lions return to Stanford Arena on Wednesday, December 13 to square off against Lenoir-Rhyne. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.