HICKORY, N.C. - Lenoir-Rhyne women's basketball is letting the SAC know they are for real, taking down No. 23 Lincoln Memorial today 71-63 in overtime. This marked the Bears' ninth straight win, their longest win streak since the 2022-23 season.
Aaliyah El led the team with 21 points, her eighth 20-point outing of the season. Freshman
Abigail Brown picked up her second double-double of the year with a 19 point, 10 rebound performance.
With the win tonight the Bears enter a three-way tie with Coker and Carson-Newman for the conference lead.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 71, Lincoln Memorial 63 (OT)
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (14-4, 10-2 SAC), Lincoln Memorial (14-3, 9-3 SAC)
Location: Hickory, N.C. | Shuford Arena
STORY OF THE GAME:
- Despite Abigail Brown scoring Lenoir-Rhyne's first seven points, Lincoln Memorial led 10-7 early.
- Ralee Bare hit a layup with a minute left in the first quarter to give the Bears a 19-18 lead after one.
- Leading 21-20, Brown made a layup to spark an 11-0 run for the home side.
- Madilyn Winterton and Lauren Arnold each hit late layups to give the Bears a 36-29 lead at the break.
- The teams combined for just 16 points in the third quarter on 6-30 shooting from the field.
- Amiya Porter made a layup with 7:14 remaining in the fourth quarter to push Lenoir-Rhyne's lead to seven.
- The Railsplitters kept fighting, eventually tying the game at 55-55 with 2:21 left.
- The teams traded leads over the final few minutes before an Aaliyah El layup with 20 second left sent the game to overtime.
- Lenoir-Rhyne came to play in extra time, scoring the first nine points to cruise to the eight-point win.
STATS OF THE GAME:
- Aaliyah El (21), Abigail Brown (19), and Ralee Bare (11) each finished in double-figures.
- Bare filled the stat sheet, finishing with nine boards, four assists, three blocks and three steals.
- Shooting was s struggle for both teams today as LMU's 7-14 first quarter was the only frame either team shot at least 50%.
- The Bears went 27-74 (36.5%) from the field and 4-23 (17.4%) from three.
- Lincoln Memorial was 21-67 (31.3%) from the field and 9-31 (29%) from three.
- Lenoir-Rhyne dominated the paint (46-22) and points off turnovers (20-11).
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- The Bears are now 24-12 all-time against the Railsplitters.
- This game avenges an 88-77 early season loss in Harrogate.
- These teams had never played an overtime game prior to tonight.
- Lenoir-Rhyne is now 2-2 in overtime games this season.
- The freshman trio of Abigail Brown, Madilyn Winterton, and Ralee Bare has combined to score 479 points this season.
UP NEXT: Lenoir-Rhyne won't travel far next Wednesday as they hit the road to take on Catawba. The Catawba Indians (7-10, 5-7 SAC) fell 101-73 vs. Carson-Newman earlier today. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. from Salisbury, N.C.