During her basketball career, Lincoln women's basketball head coach Andrea "Drea" Mize has had the opportunity to experience different levels and styles of competition. Mize had success at the College of Central Florida, an NJCAA Region VIII program, with an up-tempo, up-and-sown-the-court approach to the game. Mize, who also served as an assistant at Martin Methodist College, an NAIA school, played against some of the country's best at Indiana University, a member of the Big-10. Mize has used those varying experiences to develop her own unique coaching style.

"[At Indiana] I had three coaches in four years, and I saw the approach for each coach as to how they tried to rebuild the culture and put their own brand on it," Mize explained. "I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly, and I've tried to take pieces from every experience I've had."

Through two off-seasons of tenacious recruiting, Mize has started to build a new culture at LU, identifying the players that fit her vision. Taking the lessons she's learned throughout her career, Mize has begun developing a program that will represent Lincoln University well in all facets. In 2021-22, however, she expects her players to start putting their own stamps on the program.

"A lot of our players came here wanting to leave their mark on the Lincoln women's basketball program," Mize said. "They want to make Lincoln a statement in the MIAA. They came here to put W's in our win column. I think they understand all the things we need to do off the court to be great on the court."

The Blue Tigers have already proven themselves to be leaders at the university and in the community off the court. At the midterm of Fall 2021, Lincoln had a team GPA of 3.38. The Blue Tigers also have mentored youth in the Jefferson City area, most notably by helping to run the Capital City Defenders League.

"I think our players have bought into understanding that this is bigger than basketball," Mize said. "I also think that the community has bought into what we're trying to do here."

The Lincoln women's basketball team partnered with members of the LU community to improve and rebrand the program's locker room. Through fundraising efforts and the generous contribution of boosters, Lincoln's locker room is now state of the art. The Blue Tigers are thrilled with the facility improvements, and are eager to share their excitement with fans beginning with their home opener on Nov. 12 against Southern Arkansas. 

The 2020-21 Blue Tigers played teams tough, with several players putting up numbers comparable to the best in the country. AJ Bradley finished the year third in NCAA Division II in made free throws. Ashtin Ingram had the 15th-most blocks of any DII player, and ended the season second in the MIAA in blocks per game. Niyah Jackson, meanwhile, earned All-MIAA honorable mention accolades after finishing 11th in the league in scoring, ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio and seventh in field goal percentage. Despite that individual success, the results didn't always appear in the win column, but Mize believes that will change in 2021-22.

In addition to those three players, Lincoln also returns a pair of starters in Haylie Holloway and Aliyah Bello, as well as a medical redshirt player in Deija Jackson, who averaged 10.7 points per game before suffering a season-ending injury. Mize believes these core six players began developing the culture she hopes to create at Lincoln, and now that she's added some more pieces around them through recruiting, she's anticipating the team making a big step forward.

"What that returning six was able to do with the limited pieces we had, especially with players like Niyah Jackson and AJ Bradley able to score in transition when most of the time they were double-teamed, they did a really good job of finishing around the basket and understanding my expectations," Mize said. "We brought in pieces to complement them. We didn't have any post presence, so we brought in multiple post players who can dominate on the inside. We also tried to bring in some more shooters, as well as players that can come in and give Niyah and AJ some rest."

The Blue Tigers tip off the 2021-22 season by hosting the Central Region Challenge in Jason Gym. LU will begin the year by hosting Southern Arkansas on Friday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m.