JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Missouri Southern held off a second-half rally by the Lincoln women's basketball team as the Lions handed the Blue Tigers a 70-56 loss in their MIAA opener on Thursday evening (Dec. 8).

Hunter Yoakum scored 20 points to lead the Blue Tigers and now has 985 for her career. With 15 points in Lincoln's next contest, Yoakum will become just the fourth player in Lincoln history to score 1,000 points. Yoakum also dished a team-high four assists and tied for the team-lead with seven rebounds while also registering a pair of steals.

It was a six-point game at half, as Lincoln (1-6, 0-1 MIAA) shot .481 from the floor while holding Missouri Southern (6-4, 3-0 MIAA) to .389 shooting. The Blue Tiger offense cooled down in the second half, however, with Lincoln making just nine field goals. MSSU finished with a slight 42-38 edge in rebounding and forced the Blue Tigers into 17 turnovers while giving the ball away just 10 times.

Missouri Southern took an 18-14 lead after the first quarter, but Erica Gibbons opened the second period with a layup and Citlali Lopez hit a free throw to pull the Blue Tigers to within one. After the teams traded buckets, MSSU built a seven-point lead on a jumper with 5:26 left until halftime. Yoakum made a three to pull LU to within 26-22, and Tyler Brown-Henderson later hit a jumper to pull the Blue Tigers to within two. A layup from Yoakum tied the game at 28, but the Lions closed the period on an 8-2 run to go into the break up 36-30.

Gibbons was the other Blue Tiger to score in double figures, as she totaled 12 points. Brown-Henderson contributed seven rebounds and four points while Shamirah Johnson, who scored three points, also finished with seven boards. Lopez tallied nine points to go with four steals and a pair of rebounds.

The Lions led by as many as 16 in the third quarter, but Lincoln clawed back to get within six on a layup from Yoakum. Missouri Southern hit a trey to take a 55-46 advantage into the fourth quarter, but a trey from Lopez and another layup from Yoakum pulled LU to within five early in the period. A jumper from Azaria Nave, who finished with eight points, closed the gap down to 56-53, but four-straight points by the Lions ended the rally. Lincoln would later cut the deficit down to five, but Missouri Southern ended the game on an 8-0 run to secure the win.

Tempary Gunter contributed four rebounds, an assist and a steal to the Lincoln cause while Kailey Foster also represented the Blue Tigers on the court.

Lincoln will play at home for the final time in 2016 on Saturday (Dec. 10), as the Blue Tigers host Pittsburg State at 1:30 p.m. CST.