JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Lincoln women's basketball team nearly completed a second-half comeback, but Missouri Western held off the Blue Tigers, 68-59, on Thursday evening (Feb. 7).

Missouri Western (11-10, 6-6 MIAA) opened the game on a 9-2 run and led 23-14 at the end of the first quarter, but Lincoln (9-12, 1-11 MIAA) started its comeback in the second. MWSU hit a three to open the period, but LU answered with a 14-6 run to cut the deficit down to 32-28 at halftime.

Lincoln had one of its best shooting nights of 2019, as the Blue Tigers were .619 from the floor in the opening half. For the game, LU, which scored 40 points inside the paint, shot .473 from the floor and ended the night with a 34-29 advantage in rebounding.

The Griffons out-scored the Blue Tigers by just two in the third quarter, but Lincoln fought back to cut the MWSU lead down to three on several occasions. Missouri Western managed to hold onto the lead until Lincoln was forced to foul, however, and Griffons made 12 of their 15 free throw attempts over the course of the final 10 minutes.

Zhanesha Dickerson had a big night, scoring 21 points and grabbing seven rebounds, while Alecia Gulledge pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and dished three assists to go with a steal. Kaloni Pryear also had a takeaway and chipped in 15 points to go with six boards.

Bre Coleman also finished in double figures, scoring 10 points, and Zoi Thompson was close behind with nine and two assists. Kiara Shoulders closed out the scoring for LU with four points and six rebounds.

Lincoln will remain in Jason Gym on Saturday (Feb. 9) to host Northwest Missouri in a 1:00 p.m. CST contest.