Complete Game Notes
Game #6: Lincoln (1-4) vs. Maryville (3-2)
Date: Friday, Nov. 29, 2019
Time: 1:00 p.m. CST
Site: St. Louis, Mo.
Live Stats: https://umsltritons.com/sidearmstats/wbball
Live Video: https://www.glvcsn.com/umsl/

Game #7: Lincoln at Missouri-St. Louis (2-2)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019
Time: 3:00 p.m. CST
Site: St. Louis, Mo.
Live Stats: https://umsltritons.com/sidearmstats/wbball
Live Video: https://www.glvcsn.com/umsl/

THE TIP OFF:  The Lincoln women's basketball team heads to St. Louis, Mo. this weekend for a pair of games in the UMSL Classic. The Blue Tigers open the classic on Friday (Nov. 29) with a 1:00 p.m. CST contest against Maryville. On Saturday (Nov. 30), Lincoln will take on the host team, Missouri-St. Louis, at 3:00 p.m. CST. The Blue Tigers will try to get back in the win column after falling in their last contest, 87-72, on the road against William Jewell. Maryville enters the weekend with a 3-2 overall record after winning two of its past three games, all of which were on the road. UMSL, meanwhile, is 2-2 and has also won two of its past three contests.

FAST BREAKS
- Friday marks the eighth meeting between Lincoln and Maryville. The Blue Tigers lead the all-time series, 5-2.

- Lincoln last played Maryville in 2014-15 and earned a 58-51 victory over the Saints.

- The Blue Tigers and the Tritons will play for the 44th time on Saturday, with Missouri-St. Louis leading the all-time series, 30-13. UMSL has won three-straight in the series, with Lincoln's last victory coming at home during the 2012-13 season.

- The last time Lincoln played Maryville and Missouri-St. Louis in back-to-back games was in 2014-15. LU lost to UMSL but rebounded to beat MU.

PREVIEWING THE BLUE TIGERS:  Kaloni Pryear is leading the Blue Tigers with 16.3 points per game, followed by Vivian Chigbu, who averages a double-double with 14.2 points and 10.8 rebounds. Alecia Gulledge is next on the scoring chart with 9.0 points per contest, and Kiara Shoulders averages 6.8 boards to go with a team-high 12 assists.

HEAD COACH AYANA McWILLIAMS:  A five-year veteran of the Division I ranks, McWilliams is in her fourth year as the head coach at Lincoln. Last season, McWilliams led the Blue Tigers to a 7-0 start, the best in program history. McWilliams previously worked as an assistant at South Carolina Upstate, a Division I program, and also was an assistant at Elizabeth City.

LAST TIME OUT
Lincoln 93, MacMurray 37
Lincoln held a commanding 61-33 advantage in rebounding and shot .468 from the field to beat MacMurray, 93-37, at home on Nov. 20. Natasha Dolinsky finished with 12 points, seven assists, seven steals and nine rebounds, Vivian Chigbu had a double-double with 27 points and 10 boards and Natasha Elliott scored 21 points. Two other Blue Tigers, Alecia Gulledge (12 points) and Anna Munoz Vidueira (10) also scored in double digits.

William Jewell 87, Lincoln 72
Lincoln led the game at halftime, but a 29-7 run in the third quarter propelled William Jewell to an 87-72 victory over the Blue Tigers on Nov. 24 in Liberty, Mo. Kaloni Pryear came off the bench to lead LU with 21 points and Natasha Dolinsky had 13 points while Kiara Shoulders matched Vivian Chigbu with eight points.

SCOUTING THE SAINTS:  Three MU players are averaging double-digit points, led by Mary Barton with 18.4 per contest. Abby Monis is next with 14.0 points per game, followed by Jayda Jansen, who averages 11.6 points and leads Maryville with 23 assists. Monis is the team's top rebounder (8.6 rpg.).

MU HEAD COACH COLLIN LANAM:  Lanam took over as the head coach of the Maryville women's basketball program in 2016 after a three-year stint as an assistant with the Maryville men's basketball team. Lanam has led the Saints to 41 victories in his four seasons leading the team and has coached seven all-GLVC selections.

SCOUTING THE TRITONS:  Missouri-St. Louis is averaging 51.8 points per night, led by Laura Szorenyi, the only UMSL player in double figures with 11.5 per contest. Alex LaPorta (7.8 rpg.) and Kiara Stewart (6.0) are the top rebounders, and Danielle Berry has a team-high 15 steals. Berry (8.8 ppg.) and Stewart (8.0) are second and third, respectively, on the scoring chart.

UMSL HEAD COACH KATIE VAUGHN:  The eighth-year coach of the Tritons is the winningest in program history with 112 victories, including a trip to the NCAA Division II tournament in 2013-14. Vaughn, who has guided UMSL to six trips to the GLVC tournament, came to Missouri-St. Louis after spending three seasons as the head coach at Lincoln, where she led the Blue Tigers to the most successful season in program history in 2011-12 that included 15 wins and a berth in the semifinals of the MIAA tournament.

ON THE REBOUND:  The Blue Tigers have established themselves as one of the MIAA's best rebounding teams, as Lincoln leads the league in total rebounds per game (45.8) and in offensive boards per night (16.4). Lincoln is rising up the ranks in the national levels as well, as the Blue Tigers are currently 24th in NCAA Division II in offensive rebounding & 22nd in boards per game.

GOOD ON THE GLASS:  Vivian Chigbu reached double figures in rebounding in each of the first three games and currently leads the team, is third in the MIAA and rates 31st in the country in total rebounds per game with 10.8. Chigbu's total of 54 rebounds is the third-most in the MIAA, and her 4.2 offensive boards per game rank 23rd in DII.

SHOULDERING THE DEFENSE:  In addition to Vivian Chigbu, Lincoln has another player who is off to a hot start rebounding in Kiara Shoulders, who averages 6.8 boards per contest. Shoulders, who also leads the team with 12 assists while averaging 7.4 points, is seventh in the conference in defensive rebounding with 5.6 per night as well as 12th in total rebounding. Shoulders' play gives LU the fourth-best rebounding margin in the MIAA.

PRYEAR SUCCESS:  Kaloni Pryear, who started 14 games and made 19 total appearances a year ago, is Lincoln's early scoring leader in 2019-20. Pryear opened the year with 18 points against Southern Arkansas. Pryear scored 21 points against William Jewell, and her 16.3 average has her ranked ninth in the MIAA.

DEFENDERS:  It's still early, but Lincoln boasts one of the MIAA's top shooting defenses. Lincoln has allowed teams to shoot just .362 from the floor, giving the Blue Tigers the third-best defensive percentage in the league. LU is also seventh in the league in three-point defense (.311).

A GLOBAL TEAM:  The 2019-20 Blue Tigers represent six countries, including Australia (Natasha Elliott and coach Graham McFall); Spain (Anna Munoz Vidueira); Nigeria (Vivian Chigbu); Uruguay (Natasha Dolinsky); Bosnia & Herzegovina (Vedrana Radosavljevic); and, of course, the United States of America.

COMPETITIVE EDGE:  Alecia Gulledge made her 2019-20 debut against St. Louis Pharmacy and immediately made an impact, scoring 10 points and grabbing four rebounds. Gulledge also had two steals and dished an assist while shooting .500 from the floor.

HOME DEBUT:  Vivian Chigbu's first home game as a Blue Tiger was a memorable one, as the junior led Lincoln with 26 points and 15 boards against St. Louis Pharmacy. Chigbu also had four steals and an assist, and made her first trey of the season.

GEAR UP FOR THE GAME:  Get your Blue Tiger jerseys, apparel, accessories, office supplies and much, much more at www.BlueTigersStore.com, the official online store of LU athletics. You can get everything you will need for basketball season, with a portion of all sales going directly to support all 12 LU athletic programs.

NEXT UP:  The Blue Tigers are home for their next four games, starting on Dec. 5 when LU hosts Northwest Missouri at 5:30 p.m. CST.