JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Cold shooting hurt the Lincoln women's basketball team as the Blue Tigers opened MIAA play with a 56-32 loss to Northwest Missouri on Thursday evening (Dec. 5).

LU held a three-point lead after a first period in which it forced Northwest Missouri (5-3, 1-0 MIAA) to shoot just .222 from the field, but the Bearcats heated up over the next 30 minutes. NWMSU held Lincoln (1-7, 0-1 MIAA) to just eight points in the second quarter and .233 shooting for the game.

Kaloni Pryear led LU with 10 points on the evening and grabbed five rebounds to go with an assist. Vivian Chigbu was next on the scoring chart with nine points, and she tallied three steals to go with a game-high 13 rebounds. Kiara Shoulders added five points, three boards and two steals.

Lincoln forced Northwest Missouri into 21 turnovers, with Alecia Gulledge recording a pair of steals as well as seven rebounds and two points. Natasha Dolinsky additionally notched two takeaways and had a pair of assists to go with two points and a rebound.

Virja Lewis came off the bench to provide two points and two rebounds, and Natasha Elliott and Nia McCaskill each made free throws, with Elliott also grabbing four boards. Vedrana Radosavljevic also had a rebound.

Lincoln remains at home on Saturday (Dec. 7) to host Missouri Western at 1:00 p.m. CST.