Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Harrogate, Tenn. – The Erskine women’s basketball team opened their season this weekend in the Holiday Inn Middlesboro South Atlantic Conference/Conference Carolinas Challenge.

Erskine and Coker represented Conference Carolinas while Carson-Newman College and host institution Lincoln Memorial University represented the South Atlantic Conference.

On Friday, the Fleet tipped off their season against LMU, losing 71-62.  Freshman Chelsea Frazier (Dillon, SC, Dillon High School)kicked off her collegiate career by filling up the score sheet with a team-high 20 points along with 8 rebounds, 3 steals and a block.  Sophomore Andrienne Bannerman (Watha, NC, Pender High School) contributed 19 points with 6 rebounds while sophomore post player Tara Potter (Sherrills Ford, NC, Bandys High School) grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Railsplitters needed a 10-3 run at the end of the first half to push past the young Fleet team 39-32 at halftime. Despite falling behind by as many as 16 in the second half, the Fleet scrapped back to within two points midway through the second half as Frazier scored on three consecutive possessions.  The Fleet had a chance to retake the lead but failed to convert on their next five possessions, missing three shots while turning the ball over twice, giving LMU an opportunity to rebuild their lead.
Erskine did well on the boards, outrebounding LMU 43-37 despite missing Jana Dixon (Conyers, GA, Heritage High School), who led Conference Carolinas last year in rebounding and is out due to an injury suffered in practice.

As expected with a young team, LMU victimized the Erskine guard’s for 16 steals and forcing 7 other turnovers. 

Today Erskine squared off against Carson Newman College in their second game of the Challenge, losing 85-45.

Potter led Erskine with 11 points and 8 rebounds.  She was the only player to reach double-digits in points.

The Carson-Newman defense harassed Erskine into committing 34 turnovers, 20 on steals, and limiting the Fleet to 26% shooting from the field.

Erskine faces archrival Anderson University on the road this Wednesday, November 14^th,  with tip-off set for 5:30 p.m.