JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (12-9, 9-6 South Atlantic Conference) women's basketball team fell to the Lincoln Memorial Lady Railsplitters (11-8, 10-5 South Athletic Conference) by a 73-68 score at Holt Fieldhouse on Wednesday evening.

Carson-Newman never led in the contest, yet after trailing by 11 points at halftime, the Lady Eagles outscored LMU 36-30 in the second half only to see the Lady Railsplitters hold on in the final minute to hand C-N its fourth-straight loss.

"LMU came in ready to play and they took it to us early," said Carson-Newman head women's basketball coach Mike Mincey. "They shot the three-ball really well to start and we just dug ourselves in a hole. Going into halftime we had to have a spirited talk and it wasn't about making adjustments it was about getting people on the floor who would rebound and play a little defense. I thought we got a good rotation with kids who were playing hard and once they started playing hard that certainly helped us."

Carson-Newman's comeback bid in the second half was led by sophomore Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) who scored 15 points with 10 coming in the final 20 minutes as she hit a trio of 3-pointers in the game. Burstrom was joined in double-figures by junior Jassmine Franklin (Lexington, Ky.) who scored 11 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.

The game would prove to be a game of runs, as LMU opened the game on a 12-3 run to grab an early advantage in the contest. The Lady Railsplitters would grow the lead to a game-high 17 point lead, with LMU up 31-17 with 8:07 to go in the first half.

Carson-Newman would fight back, largely with the first-half high seven points off the bench from freshman Katie Stubblefield (Alcoa, Tenn.), and the Lady Eagles trailed by 11 points at halftime.

The comeback continued into the second half, as the Lady Eagles began the period on an 11-3 run to cut LMU's lead to 46-43 with 16:06 remaining in the half. LMU would keep growing the lead to seven or five points, but Carson-Newman kept finding ways to get back into the contest.

After LMU led 60-55 with 8:41 left to play, C-N scored the next five points to pull even. First in the 5-0 run was a layup by Franklin, before Burstrom hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 60 with 6:57 to play in front of a raucous Holt Fieldhouse crowd. The game remained tied for over the next two minutes before LMU would grow the lead thanks to free throws.

LMU's lead was at 71-66 with 1:32 to play before Carson-Newman would get the game back to within a possession thanks to a right-side layup from Whitney Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.), that put the score at 71-68 with 30 seconds to play. LMU made a pair of free throws to grow the lead to 73-68 with 24 seconds to play, and Carson-Newman missed three shots in the final 20 seconds to give the game to the Lady Railsplitters.

LMU was led in scoring by the 21 points of Aisjah Roan, and she was joined in double-figures by the 14 points from Samantha Satterlee.

Carson-Newman will next play at home on Saturday, hosting Lenoir-Rhyne at Holt Fieldhouse at 2 p.m. Earlier this season Carson-Newman won at Lenoir-Rhyne 80-77 on Dec. 14.

Saturday's game will be carried on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station WPFT-FM 106.3 FM, with coverage beginning at 1:45 p.m. with "The Countdown to Tipoff," and live video is also available on www.cneagles.com.