MARYVILLE, Mo. - The Lincoln women's basketball team continued the best start in program history by beating Northwest Missouri, 69-66, in the conference opener for both teams on Thursday night (Dec. 6).

Zoi Thompson scored 27 points while Zhanesha Dickerson recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 24 points and 14 boards as the Blue Tigers improved to 7-0 on the season and 1-0 in MIAA play. Thompson also grabbed four rebounds and dished a pair of assists while Dickerson finished with two assists, a block and a steal.

The Blue Tigers led for most of the game, out-scoring the Bearcats, 27-16, in the opening period before taking a 41-33 advantage into halftime. Lincoln led by double digits for most of the third quarter, including holding a 55-39 edge with 3:39 remaining, but Northwest Missouri (3-5, 0-1 MIAA) mounted a furious comeback in the final period.

The Bearcats cut the LU lead down to 57-52 before a 5-1 run capped off by an old-fashioned three-point play from Thompson put Lincoln ahead by nine with 4:25 to play. Northwest Missouri used some tough defense and good shooting to cut the deficit down to 62-60, but LU scored the next seven points to regain a nine-point advantage.

On Lincoln's next three possessions, however, NWMSU found a way to force a turnover, and ended up scoring six free throws in the final 1:35 of the game to get back within three. The Bearcats had a chance to send the game into overtime late, but a three-point try at the buzzer missed the mark.

Lincoln finished with a 34-26 edge in rebounding and shot .520 from the floor while limiting NWMSU to .389 shooting overall and .280 shooting from long distance.

Shannyn Triplett joined Thompson and Dickerson in double figures with 13 points and Alecia Gulledge added four points and seven boards. Alecia Kaelke finished out the scoring with one point and a pair of rebounds. Kiara Shoulders led LU with three steals and Tempary Gunter contributed two rebounds and a pair of steals.

The Blue Tigers will head to St. Joseph, Mo. on Saturday (Dec. 8) to play Missouri Western at 2:00 p.m. CST.