After a close and competitive first half, Lindenwood was able to seize control of the game and set a pace that proved to be too great for the Tennessee State Lady Tigers to keep up with, as they were bested by the Lions 81-70.
Lindenwood scored the first 6b points of the game and would take a 6-2 lead before Tennessee State tied the game at 8 apiece when Krystal Haddock connected from downtown at the 5:43 mark. The Lady Tigers would take their first lead of the afternoon when Erin Martin connected from downtown to put TSU up 18-17 with 1:49 left in the quarter. It was an advantage they’d take into the second quarter.
Tennessee State was able to hang on to the lead, despite scoring just 13 points in the frame. Lindenwood was unable to take advantage of the TSU offensive struggles as they only scored 11 points on 4- 13 from the field, including 0-6 from downtown. Shooting just 3-10 in the quarter the Lady Tigers were still able to nurse a 31-28 into halftime.
The Lady Tigers quickly built a 36-28 lead in the early portion of the quarter. Lindenwood, playing from behind, trimmed the Tennessee State lead to a single point on four separate occasions before finally tying the game at 42 on a Gracie Kelsey three-point play with 3:41 left in the quarter. A pair of Gracy Wernli free throws put the Lions up 44-42. Erin Martin’s layup tied the game at 44 before Wernli’s three-pointer put Lindenwood back in front 47-44. After three-quarters of play, Lindenwood held a 54-48 advantage.
In just 83 seconds Lindenwood doubled the size of their lead to twelve at 62-50. Outscoring the Lady Tigers 15-5 over the next 3:50 to build their most sizable lead of the afternoon at 77-55. A 12-0 spurt by the Lady Tigers cut the lead to 77-67 and drew to within nine points at 79-70, but with just 0:42 left, time became the ally of their Lindenwood opponents. A pair of Kelsey free throws put the icing on the cake, sealing the win for the Lions at 81-70.
Saniah Parker led three Lady Tigers in double-figures with 19 points. Aaniya Webb added 15 points and 9 rebounds and Krystal Haddock chipped in 11 points.
Brooke Coffey and Mya Skoff topped Lindenwood with 18 points apiece; Gracy Wernli scored 17 points and Ellie Bruggemann added 11 points of her own.
The loss snaps Tennessee State’s (7-17, 3-11) 2-game win streak. Up next for the Lady Tigers is a trip to Charleston, Illinois to take on Eastern Illinois on February 13. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 pm CST.
