JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Lincoln women's basketball team hosted William Jewell in a thrilling back-and-forth game on Wednesday evening (Dec. 7), but the Cardinals scored five of the game's final six points to escape with a 62-58 win.
Le'Yanna McGinnis led LU with a double-double, scoring 17 points and pulling down 15 rebounds to go with a block and an assist.
Aliyah Bello added 13 points, five boards and a block while
Niyah Jackson came off the bench to provide 13 points, a pair of steals and an assist.
Lincoln (1-7) jumped out to an early 13-6 lead, and held a 15-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter. William Jewell (2-8) bounced back in the second quarter, using a 12-0 scoring run to go ahead, 29-24, at halftime. The third quarter belonged to the Blue Tigers, however, as a 13-0 run propelled Lincoln to 21 points in that period, giving LU a 45-42 lead entering the game's final 10 minutes.
WJC closed the gap down to one early in the fourth, but a three-pointer by Jackson allowed LU to regain a four-point advantage. The Cardinals scored the game's next four points, though, leading to a 48-48 ballgame with six minutes remaining.
AJ Bradley, who had five rebounds, two assists and a steal, made a free throw to break the tie, and later collected a defensive rebound and passed the ball to
Ashlyn Alloway, who dished it to Le'Yanna for a fast break layup. Alloway ended the day with six points, five boards, a block and an assist.
William Jewell, which shot .467 from three-point range, hit a triple to even the score once again, but McGinnis made a pair of free throws at the line to put LU back on top, 53-51. The Blue Tigers shot .833 on free throws, but the Cardinals held LU to just .143 from beyond the arc and .328 for the contest. The Cardinals shot .457 overall, but made just 13 of 23 attempts at the charity stripe.
An old-fashioned three-point play put the Cardinals back up by one, and the lead would grow to four before back-to-back baskets by Jackson and Bello knotted the score for the final time at 57-all. With 1:20 remaining, William Jewell took back the lead for good on a jumper, and held the Blue Tigers to just one point the rest of the way. LU finished with a commanding 42-28 advantage in rebounding, including out-gaining WJC on the offensive glass, 17-4, and forced the Cardinals into 15 turnovers.
Saniya Simmons dished a team-high five assists to go with three points, three steals and five rebounds.
Kelsey Mitchell finished with three points and a steal,
Aysia Arrowood had a takeaway and
Mercy Gonzalez contributed two points and a pair of rebounds.
Miriam Bazylewicz also had a rebound for LU.
Lincoln will travel to Warrensburg, Mo. on Sunday (Dec. 11) to play Central Missouri at 1:00 p.m. CST.
