JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Lincoln women's basketball team fought its way back from a 14-point second half deficit to pull within two, but Missouri S&T held off the Blue Tigers to win, 55-48, on Monday night (Dec. 1).

Missouri S&T (3-2, 1-0 GLVC) held a 31-17 lead early in the third quarter, but Lincoln (3-4, 1-1 GLVC) got the deficit down to 35-30 on a trey by Laini Joseph with just under a minute to play in the period. The Blue Tigers outscored the Miners 13-8 in the third quarter while allowing Missouri S&T to shoot just .150 from the field.

The Miners built their lead back to nine, but Lincoln made four-straight free throws and Isis Sanders drained a three to make the score 39-37 in favor of Missouri S&T. The Miners scored the next four points, but another triple by Joseph brought the Blue Tigers back within three. That was as close as LU would come to completing the rally, however, as Missouri S&T held on for the win.

Joseph had a double-double, finishing with 18 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block. Sanders added six points, three boards and a steal while Taelyn Smith ended the night with five points, five rebounds and an assist. Hallie Williamson also scored five points to go with a rebound. Bella Borgos, meanwhile, finished with two points, three rebounds and a steal.

Kaleah Toran chipped in four points and collected seven rebounds to go with a team-high four steals. Kennedy Jones notched three steals and added four points and two boards to the Lincoln effort. Kiara Cabrera came off the bench to provide two points and a rebound and Aaliyah Smith closed the scoring with two points, a pair of blocks and seven rebounds.

Lincoln travels to Fayette, Iowa on Thursday night (Dec. 4) to play Upper Iowa at 5:00 p.m. CST.