The Lincoln Blue Tiger women have a winning streak.
Lincoln rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit Thursday to defeat Missouri Western 76-72 for its second straight victory in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Assocation action at Jason Gym.
The Blue Tigers led by as many as six points early in the contest, the last at 18-12 after a layup by Kelsey Williams with 12:23 remaining in the half. The Griffons then used an 9-2 run to take the lead four minutes later.
Missouri Western outscored Lincoln 16-7 in the final 7:20 of the half to take a 42-33 advantage into the break.
The Griffons stretched their advantage to 14 at 48-34 early in the second half. A 7-0 run by the Blue Tigers cut the deficit in half before the Griffons answered to push their lead back to 12 at 62-50 with 8:51 to play.
Lincoln then put together a 13-2 run to make it 64-63 with 5:13 remaining. Two free throws by Williams tied the game at 67 with 2:36 to play before a 3-pointer by Kayton Cole on Lincoln's ensuing possession gave the Blue Tigers their first lead since the opening minutes.
The Blue Tigers led by as many as seven points in the final minute.
Williams finished with a game-high 29 points and 11 rebounds for Lincoln, including a 14-of-15 performance at the free-throw line. Cole added 11 points, while Kate Frazier chipped in with 10. Lizzie Nessling grabbed nine rebounds for Lincoln.
LaQuinta Jefferson finished with 18 points to lead the Griffons. Sarafina Handy added 17 for Missouri Western (8-9 overall, 3-8 MIAA), while Ariana Novak totaled 11 and Milikare Koyamainavure chipped with 10. It was the 17th straight road loss for the Griffons.
Lincoln (8-9, 3-8) wraps up a three-game homestand Saturday afternoon against Northwest Missouri State. Game time is 1:30 p.m.
III
In men's action Thursday, Lincoln rallied late to force overtime, but eventually fell 79-72 to Missouri Western.
A layup by the Lincoln's Joshua Buie with two seconds left in regulation knotted the game at 61, but the Griffons outscored the Blue Tigers 18-11 in the extra five-minute session to win it.
Lincoln led 27-23 at halftime and ran out to its biggest lead at 47-32 with 9:31 left on a jumper by Malcolm McDonald. But an 8-0 run by the Griffons immediately after that got Missouri Western back in it.
The Griffons never trailed in overtime, scoring nine of the first 11 points.
Buie racked up a game-high 25 points and also had six steals, two assists and two rebounds.
Blake Ralling had a double-double for the Blue Tigers with 11 points and 11 rebounds, McDonald added 11 points and Victor Scott chipped in with 10 points.
Cortrez Colbert and Dareon Jones racked up 20 points each for Missouri Western, while Kevin Thomas had 12 and Aaron Emmanuel added 10.
The Griffons improved to 9-9 overall and 5-6 in the MIAA, while Lincoln fell to 4-16 and 1-10.
The Blue Tigers return to action at 3:30 p.m. Saturday when they host Northwest Missouri State.
Related video:
Postgame reaction from Lincoln Coach John Moseley on LincolnBlueTigers YouTube channel