Lincoln plays MIAA doubleheader today at NW Missouri

The Lincoln Blue Tiger men’s basketball team continues its five-game road trip today with a matchup with the No. 5 Northwest Missouri Bearcats.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Maryville.

Lincoln (1-13, 0-9 MIAA) is still searching for its first win since a 101-55 victory Nov. 30 against Central Christian College of the Bible. The Blue Tigers are coming off a pair of loses during its trip to Oklahoma last weekend against Rogers State and Northeastern State.

The Blue Tigers have dropped the last 15 games to Northwest Missouri and lost 84-54 to the Bearcats on Dec. 12 at Jason Gym. The Bearcats lead the all-time series 55-30 and are 23-2 against Lincoln under coach Ben McCollum.

Northwest Missouri (17-2, 10-1 MIAA) is led by junior guard Trevor Hudgins, who is averaging 25.3 points per game this season while averaging 4.2 assists. He is the only NCAA player across all levels to have three different games this season with 11 made 3-pointers in a game and has the most 3s made at the Division II level this season with 98.

The Bearcats are scoring an average of 80.3 points per game this season while holding their opponents to just 63 points per game, which is the ninth-best scoring margin in Division II.

Lincoln is scoring an average of 65.6 points per game this season while allowing its opponents to score 76.6 per game.

The Lincoln women’s basketball team will open today’s MIAA doubleheader against Northwest Missouri at 5:30 p.m.

The Bearcats (13-5, 8-4 MIAA) are riding a two-game winning streak after dropping their previous three games. They currently sit in fifth place in the MIAA standings.

The Blue Tigers (5-13, 1-11 MIAA) have lost three straight games after picking up their lone conference win Jan. 13 in a 51-50 nailbiter against Newman.

Northwest Missouri leads the all-time series 40-11 and won the first matchup between these two teams 56-43 on Dec. 11 in Jefferson City. The Blue Tigers only trailed by five points at the half but the Bearcats used a big third quarter to pull away from Lincoln for the 13-point victory.

The Bearcats are led in scoring by freshman guard Molly Hartnett with 11.3 points per game, while senior guard Mallory McConkey is close behind with 10.7 points. Northwest Missouri is scoring 60.9 points per game as a team while holding its opponents to an average of 54.9 points.

Lincoln is led in scoring by Le’Yanna McGinnis with 9.8 points per game, but she has not made an appearance since Dec. 18 due to injury. Taking her spot as the leading scorer has been sophomore forward Imani Jones with 7.8 points per game, but Jones is averaging 15 points on 60-percent shooting in the last two games.

The Blue Tigers are scoring an average of 60.8 points per game this season while allowing their opponents to score 73.5.