HARROGATE, Tenn. — The Lady Railsplitters erased a 12-point second-half deficit but came up empty down the stretch, as they fell to the Catawba College Indians, 60-56, in South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball action in the regular-season finale on Saturday night.

Lincoln Memorial University (14-14, 7-11 SAC) is the No. 8 seed for the 2013 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament and will meet top-seeded Anderson University on Wednesday in Anderson, S.C.

The Lady Railsplitters struggled mightily on the offensive end in the opening half of play, as they netted only six of their 24 shot attempts in the first 20 minutes to go into the break facing a 33-24 deficit. The Indians struck first in the second stanza, as Chloe Bully drained a three-pointer from a step behind the line to push Catawba out to a 36-24 lead with 17:18 to play.

Over the next five minutes, the Lady Railsplitters answered with a resounding 13-2 run, capped with a three-pointer by Kalasia Green at the 12:10 mark to cut the deficit to one. The Lady Railsplitters continued to face a one-possession deficit until Green netted back-to-back scores to push LMU atop the scoreboard at 43-40 with 9:43 to play. The Indians knotted the game in the next possession with a three ball but Lincoln Memorial pressed back out to a four-point advantage following buckets from Mariah Richardson and Green.

At the 4:34 mark, the Lady Railsplitters assumed their largest lead of the night, as Kelsey Bradford drained a layup to propel LMU to a 51-45 advantage. However, the last four minutes of the contest would go in favor of the Indians, as they outscored the Lady Railsplitters 15-5 over that stretch to capture a 60-56 victory in Tex Turner Arena.

Bradford led LMU with 16 points and narrowly missed recording a double-double with nine rebounds. MaRanda Boddie would tally a double-double in the contest, as she ripped down a game-high 11 boards to go along with 12 points and four blocks. Kalasia Green notched 13 points in the contest. Haley Nelson sparked the Lady Railsplitters off the bench with nine points, all of which came on three first-half three-pointers.

Catawba was led by the magnificent performance of Chloe Bully, as she netted a game-high 22 points on eight-for-18 shooting from the field to spearhead the Indians’ win on the road. Taylor May added 10 points and eight rebounds, while Antionette McPhail notched nine points and 10 rebounds, headlining a 46-44 advantage for the Indians on the glass.