Hickory, N.C.--  The Lenoir-Rhyne Women's Basketball Team beat Lincoln Memorial 63-54 on Saturday afternoon in Shuford Gym. The win was the first victory for the Bears under new head coach Grahm Smith. Emily Harman finished with 20 points and 7 rebounds while Hanna McClung iced the game by hitting 7-of-9 from the free throw line. McClung finished with 15 points, five rebounds, five assists while playing all 40 minutes for the Bears. 

GAME INFORMATION:
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 63, Lincoln Memorial 54 
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (1-4, 1-4 SAC) | Lincoln Memorial (3-3, 2-3 SAC)
Location: Shuford Gym

STATS AND INFO:
-The Bears have now won four straight games and five of six against the Railsplitters
-This is the only meeting scheduled between these teams this year during the regular season.
-The win was Coach Grahm Smith's first win as head coach for the Bears

FIRST HALF:
-It was a tale of two quarters, In the first quarter the Bears shot 46.7% while Lincoln Memorial struggled from the floor and only shot 28.6% helping the Bears to a seven-point lead. In the second quarter, the Bears only shot 29.7% while Lincoln Memorial shot 44.4% to help Lincoln Memorial tie the game.
-The Bears grabbed the last four points of the half to take a 27-23 lead into halftime.
-Only four Bears scored in the first half lead by Emily Harman 11 points followed by McClung's eight points and Blaikley Crooks' six points.
-Bears had eight assists on their 12 first-half baskets, McClung and Harman had three each.

SECOND HALF:
-After a back and forth third quarter the Bears caught fire from the floor in the fourth quarter hitting 7 from 11 from the field (63.6%).
-McClung was clutch from the free-throw lane late hitting 7 out of 9 free throws to help extend the Bears lead.
-Bears had five players with at least five rebounds lead by Emily Harman with seven. Harman leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per game so far this season.

ABOUT THE BEARS:
-After allowing 70.6 points per game in the Bears first three games, the defense has only allowed 57 points per game in their past two games. 
-Alyssa Wagner and Mallory Sherrill both got their first start of the season. It was Sherrill's first career start and Wagner's 24th career start for the Bears, 
-Hanna McClung played all 40 minutes for the Bears stuffing the box score with 15 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds and added 3 steals. 

NOTABLE RAILSPLITTERS:
- Jordan Maney lead the Railsplitters with 17 points in 18 minutes. Maney was limited to two minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.
- Mikayla Kuehne had a double-double for Lincoln Memorial was 12 points and 10 rebounds. 
- The Bears forced Lincoln Memorial into 14 turnovers, scoring 20 points off the Railsplitters turnovers. 

UP NEXT:
--Bears will travel to UVA-Wise on Wednesday for a 4:00 p.m.Tip-off.