For the second straight game, the Lincoln women's basketball team went from leading at halftime to losing by double digits.
The Blue Tigers caught a break in the first half with Tanya Meyer, the top scorer in the MIAA, sitting on the bench for 14 minutes with two fouls. Lincoln took advantage and led 35-32 at halftime.
Meyer didn't pick up another foul and didn't take a seat in the second half, scoring 22 of her game-high 34 points in the final 20 minutes to lead the Northwest Missouri Bearcats to a 70-60 win Thursday against Lincoln at Jason Gym.
"She's their best player. She's the player we game-planned for all week and we just didn't come out with an answer for her," Lincoln coach Ayana McWilliams said. " There's no excuse for that, no excuse for that."
Meyer scored Northwest's (8-11, 3-9 MIAA) first 12 points of the game before picking up her second foul.
Less than two minutes after, Tempary Gunter knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to start a 9-0 Lincoln run that bled into the second quarter.
Gunter tipped the ball away from Northwest and ran down the floor for a layup and added another transition layup on the next possession to tie the game at 15 after one quarter of play. Gunter scored seven of her nine points during the run.
Two Hunter Yoakum free throws to start the second quarter finished off the run.
After that, neither team led by more than four until Azaria Nave capped off a 10-0 Lincoln run with a layup to give the Blue Tigers a 31-25 lead with 2:30 left before half. It was Lincoln's largest advantage of the game.
The Bearcats scored the final bucket of the first half and Lincoln (3-17, 2-11 MIAA) went nearly 4:45 between baskets.
Northwest scored the first 10 points of the second half, including 3s for Jasmin Howe and Meyer, to take a 42-35 lead.
Meyer and Howe combined to go 8-of-15 from deep. Northwest, which leads the MIAA in 3-point percentage, shot 11-of-26 (42.3 percent) for the game.
Khadijah Ellison cut it to 42-37 with 6:30 left in the third quarter, but that's as close as Lincoln would get.
The Blue Tigers kept within eight heading into the fourth quarter. However, Northwest outscored Lincoln 20-9 in the first 9:05 of the final quarter to lead 70-51, the largest of the game.
Lincoln managed to get seven of its final nine points off turnovers thanks to its full-court traps to make the final deficit 10.
Northwest entered the game with the worst turnover margin in the conference and that held true Thursday as Lincoln had a 21-11 advantage in that category.
What hurt Lincoln was its missed jump shots and rebounding.
The Blue Tigers shot 8-of-36 and was outrebounded 37-21 in the second half.
Meyer had 11 rebounds to go with her 34 points. Maria Dentlinger had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Howe finished with 10 rebounds to go with her nine points.
Erica Gibbons recorded her third double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Lincoln.
Yoakum scored 11 and became the all-time leader for 3-pointers made at Lincoln with a 3 from the wing with 6:15 left in the first quarter. Yoakum has made 152 3s in her career, surpassing Sheila Leopold's mark of 151. Leopold played at Lincoln from 1995-97.
Lincoln continues its three-game homestand Saturday when it hosts Missouri Western at 1:30 p.m.