When it came down to it, the Blue Tigers took better care of the basketball.
The Lincoln women beat McKendree 77-56 in its home opener Wednesday night at Jason Gym.
The two teams played a balanced contest through the first two quarters, with the Blue Tigers holding a 31-30 advantage at intermission.
The difference in the second half proved to be the turnover battle.
Lincoln (3-0) and McKendree (1-2) went to the locker rooms with nine turnovers apiece. The Blue Tigers finished the game with 11 giveaways, compared to the Bearcats' 23.
Lincoln head coach Nicole Collier was pleased with her team for taking care of the basketball in the second half but wasn't too happy about how her team started.
"I think, in general, we came out like we thought we were the better ball club," Collier said. "I thought we played sloppy, I thought we played careless."
Senior forward Zuri Hill agreed.
"Starting off slow like that will not win us very many games, so I'm happy with the result," said Hill, who led the Blue Tigers with a double-double, totaling 17 points and 14 boards.
Lincoln jumped out to a 16-6 lead headed into the first media timeout at 3:48 in the first quarter. But the Bearcats responded with an 11-2 run to put them within one at the end of the quarter.
The score swayed in the second quarter as the Blue Tigers took that one-point lead into the locker room.
Lincoln shot a mere 30 percent from the field in the first half, while McKendree bested them with a 39-percent output. Also in the first half, the Blue Tigers converted on just 3-of-13 attempts from long range.
Hill accomplished her second double-double of the season in the first half alone. At the break, she had 10 points and 10 rebounds, along with three fouls.
Hill picked up her fourth foul just minutes into the third quarter, sending her to the bench for the remainder of the third frame.
"She's playing at a higher level right now," Collier said, "and she feels good about herself. She has to get to a point where she realizes she's undersized in the post and that's why we try to keep her out of foul trouble. ... Obviously we're a better team when Zuri is in there on the rebounding side and we have a presence in the paint."
Senior forwards Lizzie Nessling and Jasmine Guthrie both finished with four fouls.
"We're not too deep at the five-spot to have that. So that's a big problem for us," Collier said.
To fix that, Hill said, getting better positioning in the paint and playing smart.
The Blue Tigers, ultimately, turned up the intensity with a 22-11 third-quarter showing.
Junior guard Sarah Neptune, who finished with 14 points, swished her second 3-pointer and followed it up with a head-fake, drive and score to give the Blue Tigers to a 38-32 advantage with 7 minutes left in the third quarter. In their next possession, the Blue Tigers rebounded three of their own misses to set up an Asia McCaskill three-pointer, giving the home side a 41-32 lead.
Senior guard Dorian Briggs, who had 15 points, sunk a big 3-pointer, and Yoakum, who also scored 15, added an easy two after a Bearcat turnover.
Briggs came on strong in the second half with 11 of her 15 points.
Hill fouled out with 1:41 left in the game, as she was applauded to the bench for her efforts. She is averaging 20 points per game as the team's leading scorer.
At 3-0, Lincoln is off to its best start since the 2011-12 season, when it won first four games.
"I'm happy that they responded. It was just different than last weekend when shots were falling," Collier said. "But in the first half we were struggling and couldn't get a whole lot out of our offense. It was good to see us battle through adversity."
The Blue Tigers hit the road to take on Harris-Stowe at 2 p.m. Saturday. Their next home game is Nov. 28 against Rockhurst, with a 3 p.m. tip time.
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