“It was nothing but money by the time it left her hand,” were the words coach Amy Eagan used to describe Ellie Bruggemann’s game-winning shot with 1.1 seconds left to give the Lindenwood women’s basketball team (12-7, 8-2 OVC) a dramatic 70-68 win over the Little Rock Trojans (9-10, 7-3). The win propelled the Lions into a second-place tie with Tennessee Tech, only trailing the conference-leading Eastern Illinois Panthers.
“It was a game where it was just a battle of two really good teams,” said Eagan in her postgame press conference. Little Rock made a surge late in the fourth quarter, but Lindenwood was able to stay composed and pull out the victory. Brooke Coffey led the Lions with 15 points and tallied four rebounds. Justis Odom, in her return to the starting lineup, put up 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds before fouling out. Odom also shot 9/11 from the free-throw line. Gracy Wernli was the last Lion in double figures, with 10 points and hauled in six rebounds. Lindenwood outrebounded Little Rock 30-23 and was a big reason for not allowing the Trojans to get many second chances on the offensive end.
Brueggemann had nine points and three assists, including the game-winner for Lindenwood about corralling her only rebound of the contest off an errant Coffey shot and drilled a fadeaway jumper over three Trojan defenders to give the Lions the win.
Early in the first quarter Lindenwood jumped out to a quick 8-4 lead with Coffey tallying four quick points to jumpstart the Lions’ offense. The Lions were finding success from inside the lane early and often. Brueggemann and Coffey combined for 11 of the Lions’ 19 first-quarter points as they led 19-13 after one quarter. Lindenwood held the Trojans to 26.7% shooting in the opening quarter.
Lindenwood would continue to build on their lead in the second quarter as they pushed the lead to nine at 22-13 with 9:00 to play after a Coffey three. Little Rock, however, would not go away and close the lead to three at 27-24 following a Mesi Triplett three. Lindenwood would tighten up their defense and go on a 6-2 run to end the quarter and take a 33-26 lead into the halftime break. Coffey led the Lions with nine points at the break and Lindenwood had held Little Rock leading scorer, Faith Lee to only two first-half points.
Little Rock came out of the break not giving up and continuing to fight back in the game outsourcing the Lions 20-17 in the third quarter and ending the quarter on a 9-5 run to only trail 50-46 headed into the final quarter. Coffey, Odom, and Wernli all had four points in the quarter for Lindenwood as Lee and Jordan Holman began to catch fire for the Trojans, each with eight points in the quarter.
Lindenwood would go on a 7-0 run to start the 4th and grow their lead to 11 at 57-46 after a pair of free throws from Odom. Little Rock would respond and go on an 18-4 run to gain their first lead since 3-2 early in the first at 64-61 after a pair of free throws from Holam. Mykayla Cunningham would respond with a layup and an and-one to tie it at 64-64 with 1:50 left. Wernli would step up big time with a corner three to regain the lead at 67-65 with 1:24 left. A pair of free throws from Lee for Little Rock would tie it back at 67-67 before Wernli would go 1/2 from the foul line and only give Lindenwood a one point advantage with 45 seconds left.
Holman would draw a foul with five seconds left and have a chance to give the Trojans the lead, but with the home crowd yelling in her ear she could only make one of her two attempts and give Lindenwood a chance to win it in regulation. And with the game on the line, Lindenwood inbounded the ball to Coffey who threw up a wild shot but the ball found its way into the hands of Brueggemann with three Trojan defenders around her, but buried a fadeaway jumper to give Lindenwood a 70-68 win.
The Lions will be back at home next Thursday, Jan. 30, as they play host to SIUE beginning at 5 p.m. streaming exclusively on ESPN+.