The Lincoln women's basketball team will finish a four-game road trip with perhaps the toughest of the bunch, playing at 3 p.m. today at No. 9 Missouri Western.
The Griffons (20-2, 14-2 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) are fifth in Division II in scoring, averaging 84.5 points. LaQuinta Jefferson leads the potent scoring attack with 22.8 points per game, good for second among Division II players.
Sarafina Handy (14.5) and Miliakere Koyamainavure (11.3) also average double digit points for the Griffons.
Missouri Western has won two straight games, including a 93-50 blowout against Lindenwood on Thursday.
Lincoln (8-14, 4-12 MIAA) is coming off a 73-63 loss at Northwest Missouri State.
Missouri Western leads the series against Lincoln 29-4, including six straight. In the most recent matchup, the Griffons won 85-62 on Dec. 20 at Jason Gym. Jefferson scored a game-high 29 points. The game was tied at 35 at halftime, but the Griffons outscored the Blue Tigers 25-11 in the third quarter and 25-16 in the fourth quarter.
III
The Lincoln men's basketball team will take a three-game losing streak into today's matchup against Missouri Western, which just snapped a three-game skid of its own with an 88-78 win against Lindenwood on Thursday.
Game time is set for 5 p.m.
Lincoln (12-10, 8-8 MIAA) has lost five of its past six games, while the Griffons (7-15, 5-11 MIAA) have lost six of eight.
With six games remaining in the regular season, Lincoln sits seventh in the MIAA.
The Blue Tigers are only two games behind third-place Missouri Southern, but are only three games ahead of 13th-place Missouri Western.
Lincoln beat the Griffons earlier this season, an 82-67 victory Dec. 20 at Jason Gym. Missouri Western has a 30-6 lead in the series.
The Blue Tigers are third in the MIAA in scoring (79.4), but have only averaged about 67 points per game in their past six games. Lincoln's opponents have averaged 80.5 points in that stretch.
Trey Sampson (12.9) and Aaron Emmanuel (11.3) both average double-digit scoring for Missouri Western. Emmanuel leads the Griffons with 6.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.
Sampson is sandwiched between Lincoln's Jaylon Smith and Anothony Virdure in 3-point percentage this season in the MIAA, sitting 11th at 35.5 percent.