JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A big fourth quarter helped Missouri Western stave off a rally by the Lincoln women's basketball team as the Blue Tigers fell by a final score of 66-47 on Saturday (Dec. 7).

The Blue Tiger defense held the Griffons to just six three-pointers in 30 attempts, and LU finished with a 54-41 advantage in rebounding while limiting MWSU to just .377 shooting overall. Lincoln out-scored the Griffons in both the second and third quarters, but Missouri Western ended the game on a 20-8 run to seal the victory.

Kaloni Pryear led Lincoln in both points (15) and rebounds (nine) and had two assists and a steal. Alecia Gulledge added 10 points, three boards and two assists to the Blue Tiger cause, and Natasha Elliott finished with eight rebounds and four points.

Missouri Western (6-2, 1-1 MIAA) led the entire game, including by 13 with 5:48 to play in the third quarter. Vivian Chigbu, who had six points and seven boards on the day, hit a layup to spark Lincoln onto an 8-0 run to cut the lead down to 44-39. Chigbu also had a steal, a block and an assist in the contest.

MWSU hit a layup to stop the run and take a seven-point advantage into the final quarter, and scored the first four point of that period to slow down the Blue Tigers. Lincoln (1-8, 0-2 MIAA) closed the gap down to 52-45 on a pair of free throws from Nia McCaskill with 5:13 remaining, but the Griffons pulled away afterwards for the win. McCaskill ended the day with four points, two boards and a steal.

Natasha Dolinsky secured seven rebounds and chipped in two points to go with a block, a steal and two assists. Virja Lewis provided four points and four rebounds, and Kiara Shoulders closed the scoring for Lincoln with two points and four boards. Anna Munoz Vidueira also had two rebounds for LU.

Lincoln will have a week off before hosting Hannibal-LaGrange in its next game on Saturday (Dec. 14) at 1:00 p.m. CST.