HARROGATE, TN -- A layup by Dayshalee Salaman with 10:16 remaining in the first half put the Lady Railsplitters on top and they never looked back as they defeated the Brevard College Tornados 64-51 on Wednesday evening at Tex Turner Arena. With the win, LMU moves to 7-8 in the South Atlantic Conference and 12-11 on the season.
Lindsay Brendle led the attack for the Tornados with her 18 points on 5-17 shooting from the field. Holli Flippo added ten points and 11 rebounds for Brevard College.
The Lady Railsplitters were led by Dayshalee Salaman's double-double performance, as she finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds in the contest. She went 8-8 from the charity stripe while adding three assists and a steal. Lauren Cochran poured in 17 points and narrowly missed a double-double with eight rebounds. Cochran was a force defensively as she compiled five blocks in the affair. Edina Musa added 11 points off the bench on 5-9 shooting from the field.
Lincoln Memorial limited the Tornados to 25 percent shooting on the night and 9-28 shooting from behind the arc. The Lady Railsplitters controlled the boards as they won that battle 59-40.
Back-to-back trey balls from Lindsay Brendle and Anna Schlobohm helped the Tornados open up an early 12-4 lead with 15:39 left in the first half. The Lady Railsplitters used the free throw line and a jumper by Lauren Cochran to cut the deficit to 12-10 with 12:34 left on the clock. A couple free throws from Cochran and Dayshalee Salaman's layup with 10:16 to play gave Lincoln Memorial a 14-13 advantage and capped a 10-1 run back into the game.
By the seven-minute mark, the Lady Railsplitters had extended their run to take a 20-13 lead. The Tornados brought the score back to 20-17 before LMU responded with an 8-2 run to take a 28-19 lead with two minutes left in the half. That score would hold as the final two minutes were played to a stalemate.
Brevard College opened the second half with a trey from Holli Flippo and a two-point bucket from Micheala Watkins to cut the score back to within striking distance at 28-24. Edina Musa scored four of the next six points for the Lady Railsplitters as they used a 6-0 run to take a 36-26 lead with 16:40 left in the contest.
By the 14 minute mark, LMU had extended their advantage to 45-31 with a couple free throws from Salaman. The Tornados made their final run into the game with a 7-0 rally to cut the score to 45-38 with 12 minutes remaining.
That was as close as Brevard College reached in the closing minutes as the Lady Railsplitters won the next 11 minutes of action 21-10 to take a commanding 64-48 lead with a minute remaining. A three-pointer from Chezney McJunkin with nine seconds left cut into the deficit as the Lady Railsplitters concluded the contest with a decisive 64-51 victory.
Lincoln Memorial will play their final home game of the regular season on Saturday, February 18th as they host Anderson University at Tex Turner Arena for a South Atlantic Conference battle. That game is set to tip at 6 p.m.
