The Lincoln Blue Tigers staved off a charge Saturday afternoon by the Southwest Baptist Bearcats to take a 70-61 victory in women's Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association action at Jason Gym.
Lincoln saw an 11-point lead late in the game whittled to three at 62-59 with 41 seconds remaining. A free throw by Kesley Williams pushed Lincoln's advantage back to four and after a missed 3-pointer by Southwest Baptist, Williams hit two free throws to make it 65-59.
Kayton Cole's free throw with :30 remaining made it 66-59. After a bucket by Dilonna Johnson of Southwest Baptist, Cole hit two free throws to push the lead back to seven at 68-61.
The Bearcats then missed a 3-pointer and two more free throws by Williams with nine seconds left made the final 70-61.
The strong late performance at the line highlighted a big game for Williams. The sophomore finished with a game-high 28 points. She also grabbed six rebounds and had five assists and finished 13-of-21 at the free-throw line.
Cole added 10 points for Lincoln, while Lizzie Nessling pulled down 10 rebounds for the Blue Tigers.
Southwest Baptist held a 10-7 lead just under five minutes into the game before a 9-2 run by Lincoln gave the Blue Tigers the lead for good.
The Blue Tigers led by as many as 14 points in the opening half, that coming after a Williams jumper made it 34-20 with 4:24 left. Lincoln scored the only points in the final 2:10 of the half, that coming on a layup by Williams with 20 seconds remaining, as the Blue Tigers took a 38-27 advantage into intermission.
Lincoln's biggest lead in the second half was 11 points, the final time at 55-44 with just under six minutes left.
The win snapped a six-game losing streak for Lincoln (7-9 overall, 2-8 MIAA), who will host Missouri Western in a conference contest at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Leann Terrill finished with 16 points for Southwest Baptist (7-10, 3-7). Johnson added 13, while Ashlee Pitts totaled 11.
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