Lincoln women fall 83-76 to Pittsburg State

Lincoln's Haylie Holloway tries to dribble past Pittsburg State's Tristan Gegg during Thursday's game at Jason Gym.
Lincoln's Haylie Holloway tries to dribble past Pittsburg State's Tristan Gegg during Thursday's game at Jason Gym.

After Lincoln led for nearly the entire first half, Pittsburg State tied the game just before halftime and never trailed in the final 20 minutes in an 83-76 victory Thursday at Jason Gym.

"We have injuries but the kids that should be stepping up are not stepping up where they need to," Lincoln coach Andrea Mize said.

Lincoln began the game on a 14-4 run, getting 3s from Kiara Cadore and Joseline Ramos to cap a great five-minute run for the Blue Tigers.

The next five minutes didn't go so well for Lincoln.

The Gorillas slowly chipped away, pulling within 18-14 after back-to-back 3s from Erin Davis and Jayme Jackson.

Lincoln led 20-16 after the first quarter.

The Gorillas led 25-22 before Ashtin Ingram made a 3-pointer, Aliyah Bello made two free throws and Niyah Jackson dropped in a layup to cap a 7-0 spurt.

Jackson paced the Blue Tigers with 22 points, nine assists and four rebounds.

"Niyah's got the heart of a lion," Mize said. "It doesn't matter if she's 5-10 or 5-5, she just plays. We'll ride with that, and I've just got to find more players with heart and passion like that."

Lincoln pushed its lead back up to eight at 37-29 on a Vivian Chigbu bucket.

Chigbu finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.

"You can't teach passion and you can't teach energy, and Vivian Chigbu, Haylie Holloway, Niyah Jackson, did a phenomenal job of that tonight for us," Mize said.

Holloway tallied six points and six rebounds.

Pittsburg State tied the game at 39 in the final second of the first half when Jayme Jackson drove inside for a layup.

The Gorillas took the lead for good when Ashton McCorry made a 3-pointer to make it 48-45 with 6:59 left in the third quarter.

"We're trying to define our offense and our defense," Mize said. "Defensively we're very aggressive and we want to have a lot of energy. And then on the offensive end, we're trying to be patient. When you're trying to combat those two things it's almost like turning a light switch on and off."

Tristan Gegg scored a game-high 31 points for Pittsburg State, while Kaylee DaMitz added 19 points.

"Kudos to (Gegg) because she torched us," Mize said.

Lincoln (0-4) will host Central Missouri at 1 p.m. Saturday in a make-up game.