HICKORY, N.C. — The Lady Railsplitters dropped a 70-52 decision to the Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne University in South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball action on Saturday afternoon. It was the second straight league loss for Lincoln Memorial (8-8, 1-5 SAC), while the Bears improved to 11-3 on the year and a perfect 6-0 in conference play.

LMU struggled from the floor to the tone of an 18-53 effort (34.0 percent) from the field and committed 20 turnovers which were converted into 20 points by the Bears. Kalasia Green led the way with nine points while MaRanda Boddie and Kelsey Bradford added seven points apiece and Ralissa Nelson and Britney Guy put in six points each. Boddie also recorded nine rebounds to lead the Lady Railsplitters in that category. Mariah Richardson also made her impact felt on the glass with seven boards. Lincoln Memorial was outrebounded 47-35 in the contest.

Eleven different players scored for the Bears, paced by Jazmine Charles’ game-high 17 points to go along with six rebounds. Danielle Bongiorno figured into the contest with nine points while Nneka Awuruonye tallied eight points.

The Bears opened the game by taking a 6-0 lead and quickly pushed that advantage to 11-4 on a Charles three-point bucket with 17:31 left to play in the half. By the 10-minute mark of the half, the Bears had extended their lead to 20-8 with a jumper by Alexis Katt. The Lady Railsplitters were never able to dig out of that first-half deficit, as L-R pressed their lead to 34-13 on a jumper by Bongiorno with 3:33 left in the first frame. The Lady Railsplitters cut to within 15 in the waning seconds of the half, however, Charles tallied five points in the final 28 seconds to send the Bears into the half leading, 39-19.

The Lady Railsplitters were never able to drive back into the game in the second half, as they trailed by as many as 29 and never faced a deficit lower than 18 in that frame. Alisa Samite notched the final bucket of the game for the Lady Railsplitters with 12 seconds remaining, as Lincoln Memorial fell 70-52.

Lincoln Memorial University will look to snap their two-game skid on Wednesday when they travel to arch-rival Carson-Newman College for a South Atlantic Conference battle with the Eagles. That game is set to tip at 6 p.m. in Jefferson City, Tenn.