Complete Game Notes
Game #20: Emporia State (14-5, 7-3 MIAA) at Lincoln (3-16, 0-10 MIAA)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020
Time: 1:00 p.m. CST
Site: Jason Gym (1,538) in Jefferson City, Mo.
Tickets: Adults - $5.00 | LU Faculty & Staff/Non-LU Students - $3.00 | LU Students & Kids 5 and Under – Free
Live Video: http://www.themiaanetwork.com/
Live Stats: https://lubluetigers.com/sidearmstats/wbball/

THE TIP OFF:  The final month of the 2019-20 season has arrived, and the Lincoln women's basketball team will open it at home as the Blue Tigers host Emporia State on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 1). Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CST for the only meeting between the two teams of the season. LU dropped a 66-49 decision to Washburn on Wednesday evening (Jan. 29), and will attempt to get back in the win column for the first time in 2020. The Blue Tigers will take on an Emporia State team that is also coming off a loss, as the Lady Hornets fell on the road to Central Missouri, 70-66, on Wednesday. Emporia State is 11-0 in home games in 2019-20, but just 2-5 on the road. All of Lincoln's wins, meanwhile, have come inside Jason Gym, the site of Saturday's game.

FAST BREAKS
- This will be the 30th meeting between Emporia State and Lincoln, with the Lady Hornets leading the series, 27-2.

- Emporia State has won 22-straight games in the series, with Lincoln's last victory being a 65-61 road win over the Lady Hornets in 1993-94.

- A victory on Saturday would mark the first win for the Blue Tigers ever over Emporia State in Jefferson City, Mo.

- LU is 3-7 inside Jason Gym in 2019-20.

PREVIEWING THE BLUE TIGERS:  With 11.0 points and 8.4 rebounds per night, Vivian Chigbu is averaging close to a double-double and leads LU on the glass. Kaloni Pryear is scoring a team-high 16.3 points per game, and Kyessence Collins leads Lincoln with 2.9 assists per contest and averages 6.9 points. Alecia Gulledge, meanwhile, has been an all-around asset to the Blue Tigers with 6.4 ppg., 4.6 rpg., 30 steals and nine blocks.

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:  Kaloni Pryear scored 17 points and Virja Lewis chipped in six while grabbing 10 rebounds, but the Blue Tigers fell to Washburn, 66-49, on Wednesday (Jan. 29). The difference was in the first quarter, where WU out-scored LU, 24-11, as Lincoln had more points in the second period while the Ichabods held slim two and four-point advantages in scoring in the third and the fourth quarters, respectively.

SCOUTING THE LADY HORNETS:  Tre'Zure Jobe leads Emporia State with 16.5 points and 3.5 assists per game, and Jessica Wayne averages 12.0 points and a team-best 4.7 steals. Jalyn Harris is the team rebounding leader with 4.9 per game, while Mollie Mounsey is tallying 14.4 points and 4.2 boards per night. Morgan Laudan, meanwhile, averages 8.6 points and 4.7 rebounds.

ESU HEAD COACH TOBY WYNN:  In his first year with the Lady Hornets in 2018-19, Wynn led the program to 22 wins and an appearance in the NCAA tournament. Wynn, who averaged more than 20 wins in 13 seasons at Seward Community College, coached both an All-American and the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year last season.

DOUBLE THE FUN:  Vivian Chigbu has reached double figures in both scoring and rebounding in six games in 2019-20 and averages 11.0 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Chigbu, who twice has eclipsed 20 points in a game, is tied with Fort Hays State's Belle Barbieri for the second-most double-doubles in the MIAA behind only Nija Collier of Central Missouri, who has seven.

...AND ONE:  Virja Lewis also has recorded a double-double this season, as she grabbed 10 rebounds and scored 24 points against Rogers State. Lewis, who also had a 10-rebound night vs. Washburn, had 10 points and eight boards against Central Missouri.

ON THE REBOUND:  The Blue Tigers have established themselves as one of the MIAA's best rebounding teams, as Lincoln is second in the league in total rebounds per game (40.3) and leads the conference in offensive boards (16.0). Nationally, LU is 20th in DII in offensive boards.

KY'S THE KEY:  Kyessence Collins has given LU an immediate impact since joining the lineup on Dec. 14, including dishing 23 assists for a 2.9 apg. average that leads the team. Collins had nine points, five assists and five rebounds in her debut performance against Hannibal-LaGrange, and is averaging 6.9 points & 3.0 boards for the season.

A GLOBAL TEAM:  The 2019-20 Blue Tigers are representing six countries: Australia (Natasha Elliott and assistant 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.

GOOD ON THE GLASS:  Vivian Chigbu reached double figures in rebounding in each of the first four games and currently is third in the MIAA while rating 91st in the nation in rebounds per game with 8.4. Her total of 159 rebounds is the fourth-most in the MIAA.

PRYEAR SUCCESS:  Kaloni Pryear, who started 14 games and made 19 total appearances a year ago, is Lincoln's scoring leader in 2019-20. Pryear opened the year with 18 points against Southern Arkansas and has reached double digits 17 times this year. That includes four 20-point performances, highlighted by scoring a career-high 26 vs. Maryville.

TO THE TENS:  Kaloni Pryear is having an outstanding season offensively, averaging 16.3 points per game to lead LU and rank fifth in the MIAA. In 17 of the 18 games she's played, Pryear has scored at least 10 points, and she has reached the 20-point plateau four times. Pryear has made 114 field goals, the third-most in the MIAA, while her .460 field goal percentage is eighth in the league.

STEAL-GULL:  Alecia Gulledge leads Lincoln with 30 steals, with her 1.8 takeaways per game ranking 10th in the MIAA. Gulledge, who joins Natasha Dolinsky and Vivian Chigbu in the top-20 of the MIAA rankings for steals per game, has helped Lincoln post the league's fifth-best team average of 9.0 takeaways per contest.

BOTH SIDES OF THE GLASS:  Whether she's on offense or defense, very few players rebound as well as Vivian Chigbu. Her 3.8 offensive rebounds per game are second in the MIAA and 23rd nationally while her 4.5 defensive boards per game are 13th in the conference.

THE ROTATION KEEPS SPINNING:  Lincoln has changed up its lineup in nearly every game, using 15 different starting fives in 19 games in 2019-20. Ten Blue Tigers have made at least three starts, with only Vivian Chigbu having made as many as 17.

DOLING SOME HELP:  Natasha Dolinsky leads the Blue Tigers with 39 total assists for 2.1 per game. She also has 30 steals, tied for the 15th-most in the MIAA, and four blocks on the year, and Dolinsky is scoring 6.5 points per night while averaging 3.1 rebounds.

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:  Lincoln travels to St. Joseph, Mo. next Wednesday (Feb. 5) for a rematch against Missouri Western at 5:30 p.m. CST.