JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Lincoln women's basketball team erased a 23-point deficit with a huge fourth quarter comeback to beat Southwest Baptist, 72-70, on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 21). The contest was Lincoln's annual Think Pink Game, and the Blue Tigers teamed up with the American Cancer Society and Coaches vs. Cancer to promote awareness, remember victims and honor survivors.

Southwest Baptist (11-7. 3-6 MIAA) held a 41-30 lead at halftime and was up by 23, 59-36, with just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter. That's when the Blue Tigers began their comeback, as Erica Gibbons hit a jumper, Asia McCaskill made a pair of free throws and Azaria Nave drained a three to send LU into the fourth quarter down just 59-43.

Lincoln (3-14, 2-8 MIAA) shot .583 from the floor and .600 from three-point range over the game's final 10 minutes, out-scoring the Bearcats 29-11 in the process. The Blue Tigers scored the first nine points of the period, with Khadijah Ellison hitting a pair of three-pointers. Ellison ended the game with a career-high 18 points, seven rebounds, six steals, three assists and a block. Gibbons, meanwhile, was next with 17 points, five boards and three blocks.

After SBU briefly halted the run with a pair of free throws, Ellison hit her third trey of the quarter to pull LU within 62-55. Back-to-back layups extended the Bearcat lead back into double-digits, but a layup by Gibbons started LU on a 12-2 run that brought the Blue Tigers to within 68-67 with 2:29 remaining. The teams exchanged buckets, and a layup from Nave off a steal by Citlali Lopez gave LU its first lead since early in the fourth quarter. Lopez later hit a free throw to put the Blue Tigers up by two, and LU kept SBU off the board in the game's final 10 seconds to hold on for the win.

McCaskill tallied seven points and a game-high eight rebounds while Nave finished third on the team with 13 points. Nave and Hunter Yoakum each dished a pair of assists, with Yoakum also scoring one point and grabbing two rebounds. Lopez finished with eight points and four steals while Tempary Gunter tallied two steals, two rebounds and one point.

Tyler Brown-Henderson contributed five points and a rebound to the Lincoln cause, and Shamirah Johnson capped off the scoring with two points, a rebound and a steal. Jordan Matthews and Kailey Foster also represented LU on the court in the win.

The Blue Tigers forced Southwest Baptist into 25 turnovers and totaled 15 steals, with 14 of LU's takeaways coming in the second half. Southwest Baptist shot .476 from the floor compared to .373 shooting by the Blue Tigers, and held a 41-33 edge in rebounding, though Lincoln held the Bearcats to .382 shooting in the third and fourth quarters.

Lincoln will next travel to Hays, Kan. to play Fort Hays State on Thursday (Jan. 26) at 5:30 p.m. CST.