Lincoln women win third straight

Downing Northwest Missouri State on Saturday

A big first half propelled the Lincoln women's basketball team to its third straight win, as the Blue Tigers beat Northwest Missouri State 66-56 on Saturday at Jason Gym in Jefferson City.

The Blue Tigers took a 31-21 lead after the opening 20 minutes, which proved to be big when each team scored 35 in the second half.

The turnover battle proved to be big for the Blue Tigers, as they had just 18 to the Bearcats' 23, and Lincoln had an edge in points off turnovers of 25-12.

The win moved Lincoln to 9-9 overall and 4-8 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The three-game win streak has come on the heels of five-game losing skid, and puts the Blue Tigers at .500 for the first time since Jan. 5.

Northwest Missouri, meanwhile, drops to 7-14 overall and 3-9 in the MIAA.

Hunter Yoakum racked up a game-high 25 points for Lincoln. She made 10-of-15 shots in the contest, including 4-of-8 on 3-pointers. Kelsey Williams joined her in double figures by scoring 13 points. Lizzie Nessling of the Blue Tigers led all players with eight rebounds.

Ariel Easton scored 19 points to lead Northwest Missouri and Tanya Meyer had 15. Former Jefferson City Lady Jay Shelby Mustain scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds.

The Bearcats scored the game's first four points before the Blue Tigers came back to tie it three different times.

Northwest Missouri matched its biggest lead of the game at 13-9 with 11:27 left until halftime, but Lincoln responded with a 19-6 run that was capped off by a layup by Yoakum with 2:54 before halftime that made it 28-19 for the Blue Tigers.

Shamirah Johnson made 1-of-2 free throws with :01 left on the clock to give Lincoln its biggest lead of the first half, and the Blue Tigers took that 31-21 lead into the locker room.

Lincoln pushed its lead to 16 three different times in the second half, the last time at 47-31 on a layup by Kate Frazier with 11:34 remaining.

Northwest Missouri made it interesting by putting together a 15-3 run during the next 6 1/2 minutes. The Bearcats eventually made it a one-possession game when Tember Schechinger nailed a 3 with 2:48 left to cut Lincoln's lead to 54-52.

But a layup and 3-pointer by Lincoln's Kayton Cole, sandwiched around a turnover by the Bearcats, helped the Blue Tigers right the ship.

Lincoln hit 6-of-6 free throws in the final 19 seconds to salt away the win.

The Blue Tigers will try to make it four in a row when they travel Wednesday to Lindenwood University.

Related video:

Post-game reaction from Kayton Cole on LincolnBlueTigers YouTube channel