Lindenwood women’s basketball (6-5, 2-0 OVC) overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat the Western Illinois Leathernecks (5-5, 0-2 OVC) by the final score of 63-59. After enduring a four-game losing streak, the Lions have now won back-to-back games to open up Ohio Valley Conference play.
Ellie Brueggemann led the way for Lindenwood with a season-high 21 points, including going a perfect 14/14 from the foul line, making six huge free throws down the stretch to secure the win. Brueggemann scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half. Brooke Coffey was the only other Lion in double figures tallying 13 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Coffey also hit two huge three-pointers to spur the comeback. Lindenwood also forced 19 turnovers turning that into 20 points for the Lions. The Lions also led the way in the paint outsourcing the Leathernecks 24-22 and outrebounding them 35-34 including grabbing a season-best 16 offensive boards. The biggest advantage the Lions had on the afternoon was getting to the foul line 33 times compared to just 20 times by the Leathernecks.
Western Illinois jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead in the first quarter before a Gracy Wernli and-1 gave Lindenwood their first lead at 5-4. They would extend the lead to 8-4 on a Coffey three before the Leathernecks would close out the first quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 12-10 lead heading into the second quarter. Lindenwood had seven turnovers in the opening quarter and Western Illinois’ Grace McCowan led all scorers with six points. Coffey and Wernli both had three points for the Lions.
The Leathernecks opened up the second quarter with an 8-0 on layups from four different players. Lindenwood halted the run on a layup from Coffey with 6:33 to play in the quarter. Lindenwood would get outscored 19-8 in the second quarter and after a Mallory McDermott three-pointer would find themselves trailing 31-18 at the half. Lindenwood shot 6/33 in the first half and 1/13 from downtown and would need a huge offensive output in the second half if they wanted any hope at a comeback.
Lindenwood opened up the third quarter on a 15-7 run to close the Leatherneck lead to 38-33 following a Brueggemann jumper. Brueggemann scored 11 of her 21 points in the third quarter, Brueggemann would hit a three-pointer with 0:07 left to cut the lead to 46-40 heading into the fourth quarter. The Lions held the Leathernecks to 3/10 shooting in the third period and forced four turnovers in the quarter.
The Lions’ offense continued to cook as they opened up the final quarter on a 7-0 cutting the deficit to 1 forcing the Leathernecks to use a timeout with 8:37 left. Lindenwood took their first lead of the second half with 7:17 left on a pair of free throws from Brueggemann giving the Lions a 47-46 lead. Both teams continued to trade buckets with Mia Nicastro hitting a pair of free throws to tie the game at 52-52 with 2:01 left. The Lions, however, would go on a 5-0 to firmly grab the lead and never look back as Brueggemann would go 6/6 from the charity stripe in the final 31 seconds to cap off a 63-59 comeback win. The win was Lindenwood’s first win in program history over the Leathernecks and moved the Lions to 2-0 in the OVC for the first time. Brueggemann led the way with eight points in the final quarter and Justis Odom, Wernli, and Mykayla Cunningham each had four.
Lindenwood will be back in action on Jan. 2 as they begin a two-game road trip first heading to Eastern Illinois and SIUE before returning home on Jan. 9 for a matchup against Tennessee State.
