Lindenwood women’s basketball (5-5, 1-0 OVC) got it done Thursday night in their Ohio Valley Conference opener against Tennessee Tech (7-4, 1-1 OVC) 67-54. It was the first time since joining the OVC that Lindenwood had won their conference opener.
Ellie Brueggemann led the way for the Lions with 14 points. Brueggemann finished 2/6 from the field but was 9/10 from the foul line. Lindenwood was 20/23 from the charity stripe as a team in the win. Mya Skoff, making her first start of the season, had 12 points, five rebounds, three steals, and was 4/4 from the free throw line. Gracy Wernli also chipped in with 12 points and Brooke Coffey and Mykayla Cunningham each had 11 points in the win. The Lions turned Tennessee Tech over 15 times including nine steals and had six blocked shots including three from Justis Odom. Odom had a team-high seven rebounds while adding seven rebounds.
Tennessee Tech got off to a hot start in the first quarter jumping out to a quick 8-2 lead but a layup from Skoff and a three-pointer from Brueggemann kept the Lions in it early. The Golden Eagles would again gain control and go ahead 12-7 but a couple of free throws from Wernli and a couple of layups from Cunningham and Coffey tied the game at 15-15 at the end of the first.
The Golden Eagles again would be the aggressor to start the second getting a couple of quick layups. At the same time, Lindenwood struggled to find any rhythm and had a scoring drought of 3:43 before layups from Brueggemann and Coffey on back-to-back possessions tied the game at 19-19. Lindenwood ended the second quarter on an 8-2 run over the last 3:28 of the quarter as a three-pointer from Wernli and free throws from Cunningham and Skoff gave Lindenwood a 29-23 lead heading into the halftime break. The Golden Eagles were held to 3/12 in the second quarter and were forced into 10 first-half turnovers.
Coming out of the break, Lindenwood went on the attack and never looked back. They opened up the quarter on a 13-6 run fueled by exceptional free throw shooting and the Lions’ ability to drive to the rim and finish in the paint. The Lions would outscore Tennessee Tech 25-15 in the quarter and take a commanding 54-38 lead into the final quarter following a Skoff layup with 0:23 left off a Golden Eagle turnover. Brueggemann led the way in the third quarter with six points, all via the free throw line coming on separate times when she was fouled shooting a three-pointer. Coffey, Wernli, and Odom all had five points in the quarter as the Lions looked to finish the game strong.
Tennessee Tech would outscore Lindenwood 16-13 in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late as the Lions won convincingly 67-54. Cunningham led the way in the fourth with four points as it wasn’t all pretty for the Lions, who turned it over seven times in the quarter but were fortunate enough that the Golden Eagles weren’t able to capitalize on them.
Lindenwood will be back in action on Saturday, Dec. 21st for a matchup against Western Illinois starting at 1:00 p.m. on ESPN+.
