Lincoln women edge Westminster 76-74

FULTON - The Westminster Blue Jays led for most of Tuesday night's women's basketball game, but the Lincoln Blue Tigers rallied in the closing minutes for a 76-74 win at Westminster Gym.

With Westminster leading 74-73 with less than a minute to play, Deija Jackson made a steal for Lincoln and passed the ball ahead to Niyah Jackson, who made a wide-open layup with :29.2 remaining to put the Blue Tigers in front by one.

The Blue Jays had an opportunity to hold the ball for the last shot, but a turnover on the baseline gave the ball back to Lincoln with :06.5 to play. Westminster had to foul twice to get the Blue Tigers in the bonus, and Niyah Jackson made 1-of-2 free throws with :00.1 left to give Lincoln a two-point win.

Lincoln led 4-0 after scoring on its first two possessions, then Westminster answered with a 12-0 run, getting five points from Corrie Reece during that stretch. The Blue Jays ended the first quarter with a 22-15 lead.

Westminster never trailed in the second quarter, but Lincoln battled back to tie the score at 32 and again at 36. Shelby Kurtz scored a basket in the closing seconds of the first half to put the Blue Jays up 38-36 at intermission.

Kallee Dowler hit a 3-pointer midway through the third quarter as Westminster matched its largest lead of the game at 50-42, but a Mercy Gonzalez jump shot capped a 13-2 run by Lincoln to put the Blue Tigers in front 55-54.

Reese Arnold made a 3 for the Blue Jays and Annette Rameriez added a jumper in the final seconds for Westminster to tie the score at 59 entering the fourth quarter.

Dowler made another 3 with a little more than six minutes to play, pushing the Blue Jay lead to 67-61. However, despite shooting just 33.3 percent (7-of-21) in the fourth quarter, Lincoln slowly battled back and made it a one-possession game after Hya Haywood made a pair of free throws and Le'Yanna McGinnis added a layup to make it 67-65.

Westminster did not score in the game's final three minutes following a pair of free throws by Abbie Reece.

Niyah Jackson led Lincoln with 13 points, followed by Haywood with 11 points and Imani Jones with 10.

Dowler and Rameriez came off the bench to lead Westminster (3-3) with 15 and 11 points, respectively. Kurtz also reached double figures with 10 points.

Lincoln (4-2) is off until Dec. 4, when it will begin conference play at No. 25 Central Missouri in Warrensburg.