Pittsburg State women hold off Lincoln

Citlali Lopez directs the Lincoln offense during Thursday night's game against Pittsburg State at Jason Gym.
Citlali Lopez directs the Lincoln offense during Thursday night's game against Pittsburg State at Jason Gym.

Lincoln utilized 6-foot-2 forward Robin Butler to attack the rim.

Faith Brintle and Tempary Gunter found their stroke from long range for the Blue Tigers.

But the Pittsburg State Gorillas got it done in the fourth quarter to defeat the Blue Tigers 69-61 on Thursday night at Jason Gym.

"I'm trying not to be down," Lincoln coach Ayana McWilliams said after a ninth straight loss. "I just feel like there's so much more season left for us. Obviously when you lose so much it's easy to become complacent, but this team has a lot of fight."

Butler, who entered the game averaging 4.4 points and 13.3 minutes per game, exceeded those numbers by halftime.

Her first points were a 3-pointer from the top of the key 25 seconds into the game, but she got comfortable underneath the basket the rest of the half on her way to 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting.

McWilliams said Butler earned more playing time with her performance.

"Definitely did," she said. "She's been coming in since the break. She's a little bit more focused than she has been in the past. As long as she continues to get better every day at practice, she'll get the time, she'll get the opportunity."

Butler and Brintle, who scored eight of her game-high 18 points in the first half, helped build a 31-25 lead with 3:39 left in the second quarter.

However, the Gorillas closed the half on a 7-1 run to tie it at 32.

Lincoln's final lead of the game was a 34-32 advantage just 32 seconds into the third quarter.

Butler was held scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting in the second half.

"They changed their defense a little bit," McWilliams said. "They started focusing on the inside. We'll keep playing it inside out."

Brintle and Gunter found space outside the arc as they combined to shoot 7-of-10 from 3-point range for the game.

Gunter knocked down back-to-back 3s in the middle of the third quarter to pull Lincoln within 41-40. Gunter finished with 10 points for Lincoln (3-12, 0-7 MIAA).

Brintle scored 10 points in the final 3:08 of the quarter to keep Lincoln within 53-50 heading into the fourth quarter.

But Pittsburg State (12-4, 5-2 MIAA) scored the first six points of the final quarter didn't get any closer than six the rest of the way.

Bre Coleman, who added eight points and seven rebounds for Lincoln, and Butler both fouled out. Lincoln committed 21 fouls to just 10 for Pittsburg State.

"I'm proud of our team," McWilliams said. "I feel a little bit slighted from the officiated side of everything, but again I try not to harp on those things."

Paige Imhoff led the Gorillas with 16 points. Shelby Lopez had 14 points, and Madison Northcutt had 11 points and nine rebounds for Pittsburg State.

Lincoln will be back Saturday at Jason Gym when it hosts Missouri Southern. Game time is 1:30 p.m.