Complete Game Notes
Game #1: Lincoln (10-18 in 2018-19) vs. Southern Arkansas (3-25)
Date: Friday, Nov. 8, 2019
Time: 5:00 p.m. CST
Location: Monticello, Ark.
Live Stats: https://www.uamsports.com/sidearmstats/wbball/
Live Video: https://www.uamsports.com/sports/2019/11/1/central-region-challenge.aspx?path=wbball

Game #2: Lincoln at Arkansas-Monticello (8-19)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019
Time: 3:00 p.m. CST
Location: Monticello, Ark.
Live Stats: https://www.uamsports.com/sidearmstats/wbball/
Live Video: https://www.uamsports.com/sports/2019/11/1/central-region-challenge.aspx?path=wbball

THE TIP OFF:  The Lincoln women's basketball team tips off its 39th season as an NCAA program this week at the Central Region Challenge, hosted by the University of Arkansas at Monticello. The Blue Tigers open their 2019-20 campaign on Friday (Nov. 8) with a 5:00 p.m. CST contest against Southern Arkansas. Lincoln will then play Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday (Nov. 9), with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 p.m. CST. The Blue Tigers will try to improve upon a 2018-19 season in which LU won 10 games, its highest victory total since 2014-15. Lincoln will open the year against a Southern Arkansas squad that went 3-25 in 2018-19 and vs. an Arkansas-Monticello team that went 8-19.

FAST BREAKS
- This is the third-straight season in which Lincoln will play Southern Arkansas and Arkansas-Monticello in its first two games the year. LU is 3-1 in the previous four contests against those programs.

- Lincoln is 2-0 all-time against Southern Arkansas, with both meetings occurring in the past two years.

- The Blue Tigers are 1-2 all-time vs. Arkansas-Monticello with the win coming in 2018-19 (57-53).

- Lincoln is 2-2 in neutral site contests under current head coach Ayana McWilliams.

PREVIEWING THE BLUE TIGERS:  The Blue Tigers have five returners on the 2019-20 squad, including Faith Brintle, who was a medical redshirt last year after a 2017-18 season in which she averaged 10.4 points as well as 2.4 assists. Kaloni Pryear is LU's top-returning scorer from a year ago, as she tallied 9.6 points per game, while Alecia Gulledge is also back after averaging 6.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in 2018-19.

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.

SCOUTING THE LADY MULERIDERS:  Nine players return from Southern Arkansas' 2018-19 team, including each of SAU's top-three scorers. Ariana Guinn led Southern Arkansas with 10.2 points per game and 27 steals, while Jerica Bell averaged 8.0 points and Camryn Fennell tallied 6.5 per night. Alyssa Crase led the team in rebounding with 5.0 per contest, and Erin Brinkley had a team-high 20 blocks.

SAU HEAD COACH ADAM COLLINS:  Now in his second season at Southern Arkansas, Collins is an 11-year coaching veteran at the NCAA level who has won 163 games. Collins previously coached at Charleston, where he guided the team to an NCAA regional appearance.

SCOUTING THE BLOSSOMS:  UAM brings back four players from its 2018-19 squad, including its second-leading scorer in Berniezha Tidwell, as she averaged 12.4 points while recording a team-high 53 steals. Nina Kizzee averaged 5.0 points per game while starting 26 contests, and Dezirae King appeared in 24 games a year ago. Pamela Bethel, who shot .429 from the floor in nine appearances, is the other returner.

UAM HEAD COACH GREG LONG:  After a very successful four-year run at Central Arkansas, where he served as the associate head coach, Greg Long is in his first season as the head coach of the Blossoms. Long helped Central Arkansas win two Southland Conference championships and earn a pair of bids to the NCAA tournament. In 2018, he helped coach UCA to the championship game of the Women's Basketball Invitational.

EXHIBITION SEASON:  Lincoln prepared for its 2019-20 campaign with a pair of exhibition games, playing NCAA Division I team Missouri State on Oct. 28 and NAIA program Langston on Nov. 3. LU was led by Natasha Elliott with nine points and Alecia Gulledge with six in a 109-32 loss to Missouri State. Against Langston, Virja Lewis chipped in 13 points and Vivian Chigbu added 12 as the Blue Tigers fell, 70-61.

MAINTAINING NEUTRALITY:  On Saturday, Lincoln will play in its 17th neutral site contest since the start of the 2011-12 season, and the Blue Tigers have been very successful in those games. Lincoln is 11-5 when playing on a neutral court in that span, including earning a 57-53 win over Arkansas-Monticello in 2018-19.

STAYING HOME:  There are 13 home games on Lincoln's 2019-20 schedule, with all four of LU's games in the month of December being played in Jason Gym. Exactly half of Lincoln's eight games in January will also be home contests, and the Blue Tigers will host a pair of games during the first month of the season. February will be an altogether different story, however, as only three of LU's nine games will be in Jason Gym.

FAST START:  The 2018-19 Blue Tigers posted the hottest start ever to a season, as Lincoln set a new record with seven victories to open the season. Lincoln, which went 8-1 against non-conference opponents last year, will try to replicate that hot start in a 2019-20 season that opens with games vs. Southern Arkansas and Arkansas-Monticello - the same two opponents LU beat in the first two contests of 2018-19.

PRYEAR SUCCESS:  Kaloni Pryear, who started 14 games and made 19 total appearances a year ago, is Lincoln's top-returning scorer from the 2018-19 campaign. Pryear averaged 9.6 points per game, and also provided 35 assists, 12 steals and a block while averaging 3.3 rebounds. Pryear scored at least 11 points in 10 games last year.

GULL ON THE GLASS:  Alecia Gulledge was one of the MIAA's top rebounders last year, averaging 6.4 boards per game, the 13th-best average in the league. Gulledge is LU's top-returning rebounder, and also leads Lincoln's five returners in blocks (13) and free throw percentage (.804).

SHOULDERING THE DEFENSE:  Kiara Shoulders was a force on defense during her freshman year, finishing 2018-19 with 37 steals, the second-most on the team and the most of any returning Blue Tiger this year. Shoulders also averaged 4.9 rebounds and had five blocks to go with 35 assists on the season.

FAITH AND BASKETBALL:  Faith Brintle will make her return to the Lincoln women's basketball team this year after missing 2018-19 with a preseason injury. Brintle, a redshirt sophomore, had a fantastic freshman campaign, setting a new single-season record for free throw accuracy (.917) while averaging 10.4 points and 2.4 assists. Brintle also tallied 34 steals and four blocks as a freshman.

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.

NIA NOW:  Lincoln has one other returner in Nia McCaskill, a mid-season addition to the 2018-19 roster. McCaskill ended up providing some important minutes on the court to the Blue Tiger cause, as she appeared in eight games and tallied five rebounds and two steals.

SECOND CHANCES:  The Blue Tigers excelled in creating scoring opportunities in 2018-19, as LU averaged 13.6 offensive rebounds, the second most by an MIAA program. Lincoln ended the year ranked 59th in Division II in that statistic.

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 open their 2019-20 home slate a week from Saturday (Nov. 16) with a 4:00 p.m. CST game vs. the St. Louis College of Pharmacy.