HAYS, Kan. - Facing a national top-25 program on the road, the Lincoln women's basketball team played one of its best MIAA games of the season, but Fort Hays State ended up prevailing, 74-62, on Saturday (Jan. 6). Fort Hays State entered the game ranked No. 16 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's Division II poll.

After finishing with an 18-10 deficit after the first quarter, the Blue Tigers came out strong in the second, allowing FHSU to shoot just .182 from the field. AJ Bradley pulled LU to within 22-17 on a three-pointer and Imani Jones made three-straight free throws to cut the deficit down to two. Steph Torres hit a jumper to tie the game, and Ashlyn Alloway made a layup off a rebound from Jones to give the Blue Tigers a 24-22 advantage.

Torres later gave the Blue Tigers a four-point lead on a basket with just under a minute to play, but a late trey from Fort Hays State (13-2, 7-2 MIAA) made the score 26-25 in favor of Lincoln (5-8, 1-6 MIAA) entering halftime. Torres ended up leading LU with 22 points and six assists while tallying two steals and grabbing a pair of rebounds. Alloway finished with 13 points, six boards, two blocks and three steals. Jones, meanwhile, contributed 11 points and eight rebounds.

A pair of free throws to start the second half led to a 10-0 run for Fort Hays State, which out-scored the Blue Tigers, 26-11, in the third quarter. Lincoln continued to play hard, however, scoring 25 points in the final period on .615 shooting. A 6-0 run late in the quarter allowed LU to cut the FHSU lead down to 60-54, but that was close as the Blue Tigers would come to rallying. Both teams pulled down 33 rebounds and Lincoln forced 15 turnovers, but Fort Hays State shot .480 overall and .450 from three-point range.

Bradley and Biance Stocks each scored seven points, with Bradley also tallying three assists, two rebounds and a steal while Stocks recorded three takeaways. Alyssa McCarty closed the scoring with two points, three boards, a pair of assists and a steal. Hanne Nybo collected four rebounds, Saniya Simmons finished with two boards and Kiara Cabrera and Tatiana Beaumont each had one apiece.

Lincoln returns home to play Emporia State on Thursday (Jan. 11) in a 5:30 p.m. CST contest.