Harrogate, T.N. – The Brevard College women’s basketball team played their first game of a current three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon, falling to Lincoln Memorial, 79-72 in overtime.

 

The loss drops Brevard to 5-7 on the season, while LMU improves to 7-6 overall.

 

The Railsplitters’ started the game off with the hot-hand on the offensive end as LMU jumped out to an early 12-2 lead in the opening minutes of play, connecting on four three-pointers from behind the arc.  

 

While the Tornados continued to attempt to cut into the LMU lead, the Railsplitters’ were able to hold off BC with their hot shooting, as they shot 61.5 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes of play and took a 39-27 lead into the halftime intermission.

 

In the second half of play, the Tornados used a 16-0 run sparked by their pressure defense to cut into the 18 point LMU lead and make the score 57-56. 

 

On the very next possession, BC scored on a lay-up by freshman Kelsey Sill to give the Tornados their first lead of the contest at 58-57.

 

The Tornados would push the lead up to six at 65-59 with 3:01 remaining in the contest before the Railsplitters’ scored to stop the BC run.

 

BC would miss two free throws down the stretch of the game and fail to seal the win and allow the Railsplitters’ hang around until the closing seconds of the game.

 

With the Tornados holding on to a three-point lead at 68-65, Lincoln Memorial had the ball underneath their own basket with 1.9 seconds remaining on the clock. LMU got the ball in to their three-point specialist Stephanie Wagner behind the three point line. As Wagner and BC’s Krogman battled for possession of the ball, Krogman was called for a questionable foul and Wagner was given three free throws.

 

Wagner, who entered the game shooting 100 percent from the charity stripe, stepped up and hit all three foul shots with only .1 remaining in the game to force the overtime period.

 

For the second half of play, BC shot 60 percent from the floor, hitting 15-of-25 in their comeback, outscoring the Railsplitters’ 41-29 in the final 20 minutes of regulation.

 

In the overtime period, LMU clearly had the momentum on their side as they outscored BC 11-4 in the extra five minutes of play. Nichols hit free throws down the stretch to seal the 79-72 overtime victory.

 

Leading the way for the Tornados was freshman forward Amanda Whitaker, who had a career-high 18 points. Sophomore Samantha Winn recorded 13 points for the game, while seniors Courtney Brandon and Holly Krogman had 10 points apiece.

 

For LMU, guard Shawna Nicols had a game-high 22 points, while Stephanie Wagner had 20 points, including going 5-of-5 from the free throw line for the game. Senior forward Heather Benton was also in double-figures in scoring, contributing 15 points for the contest.

 

The Tornados will continue their three game road trip on Wednesday, January 16, when they will travel to Salisbury, N.C. to square off with the Indians of Catawba at 6 p.m.

 

###