WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NEWS

LINCOLN MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY

OFFICE OF SPORTS INFORMATION

Sports Release                                                                                                                      February 9, 2008

Tornados Fall In Overtime, 69-66, To Lady Railsplitters

Brevard, NC - For the second time in less than a month, the Brevard College women's basketball team took the Lady Railsplitters of Lincoln Memorial University to the limit before falling in overtime. On Saturday afternoon, the Tornados battled the Lady Railsplitters for 45 minutes, ultimately falling 69-66 in overtime. (Box score)

In the first half of play, Lincoln Memorial jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, forcing Coach Wilson and the Tornados to call a time out to regroup and stop the Lady Railsplitters' early run. However, in the next three minutes of play, LMU pushed their lead to 10 points at 12-2 with 15:53 remaining in the half.

Yet the Tornados did not blow away, as Brevard slowed down the pace of the game and cut the Lincoln Memorial lead to one point on three separate occasions before taking a 27-25 lead with 25 seconds remaining in the first half.

Brevard shot 10-of-24 from the field, 41.7 percent, to take the 29-25 halftime lead, as the Tornados ran their offense both efficiently and effectively in the closing minutes, only committing six turnovers in the period.

Despite the hot shooting by Lincoln Memorial in the second half, the Tornados maintained a slight lead over the Lady Railsplitters for the majority of the final 20 minutes of play, losing the lead only two times and never trailing by more than two points.

The Tornados held a slight two point lead with just under one minute remaining in the contest, when a BC foul put LMU guard Kara Harris on the free throw line. Harris knocked down both foul shots to knot the score up at 58-58 with 46 seconds on the clock.

Brevard take the lead with 33 seconds to go, as senior Holly Krogman made a strong move to the basket, making the lay-up and giving the Tornados the 60-58 advantage.

Lincoln Memorial would have the last shot, as they found themselves with the ball underneath their basket with only nine seconds to go. LMU would inbound the ball to forward Andi Winney at the free throw line, where she made a strong move down the right side of the lane to make the lay-up and knot the score up once again at 60-60 with only 6.9 seconds remaining in regulation.

BC took the ball out and dribbled the distance of the court, but was unable to get a shot off as the Lincoln Memorial pressure held tight in the closing seconds of play.

The Lady Railsplitters shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half, outscoring the Tornados 35-31 to help force the overtime period.

In the overtime period, the Lady Railsplitters' scored first on a three-pointer from Harris, giving them the 63-60 lead, a lead that they would hold onto for the final 4:44 of the extra frame.

The Tornados cut the lead to one with only 22 seconds remaining, however, LMU's Stephanie Wagner hit two free throws to help seal the 69-66 overtime victory for the Lady Railsplitters.

For the game the Tornados had a season-low 11 turnovers and forced Lincoln Memorial into 14 turnovers.

Sophomore Samantha Winn had a double-double, her first on the season, as she had both a season-high 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Tornados on the afternoon. Freshman Kelsey Sill added 15 points of the bench for the Tornados, while Krogman added 13 points, with 10 of those coming in the second half and overtime sessions.

Lincoln Memorial was led by forward Andi Winney's game-high 22 points and 13 rebounds. Fellow starters Kara Harris and Heather Benton were also in double-digits in points with 16 and 12, respectively.

The loss drops Brevard to 7-14 overall, while Lincoln Memorial improves to 11-10 with the win. The Tornados remain winless over their South Atlantic Conference foes this season.

-LMU-