Gracy Wernli scored a career-high 23 points as the Lindenwood women’s basketball team (18-7, 14-2 OVC) upped their win streak to nine games following a 75-56 win over the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles (18-9, 10-6) on Senior Day.
Wernlie knocked down five threes, and was a perfect 6/6 from the foul line in the game. The Lions hit nine threes as a team and finished 18/24 from the charity stripe.
Lindenwood finished off a home season that saw them go 13-2 and 10-0 in conference play as the rest of the regular season will see the Lions have four straight road games before the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.
Gracie Kelsey also had a career day as the sophomore had 19 points including a perfect 9/9 from the free throw line, and hauled in seven rebounds off the bench.
Ellie Brueggemann was the third Lions in double figures tallying 12 points and a team-high four steals. Brueggemann also knocked down a pair of three-pointers.
Lindenwood got a season-high 14 steals during the game and outscored Southern Indiana 30-16 in the paint and 28-16 in bench production.
Lindenwood jumped out to a hot start in the first quarter knocking down a couple of three-pointers to gain an early 11-6 lead. Southern Indiana would get the deficit back to three at 13-10 before a Justis Odom old-fashioned three-point play would give the Lions a 16-10 lead at the end of one.
Lindenwood would ramp up the pressure in the second quarter as Southern Indiana was only able to score two points in the first 9:12 of the quarter, as Lindenwood would capitalize going on a 15-2 run to balloon their lead to 19. Triniti Ralston and Vanessa Shafford would drill threes for the Screaming Eagles but a Brueggemann three between those would give the Lions a 34-18 halftime advantage. Kelsey led all scorers with nine points in the first half as Lindenwood held Southern Indiana to 24% shooting in the opening half.
The third quarter would see plenty of fireworks as the Lions would grow their lead to 25 at 52-27 following a pair of Wernli free throws halfway through the quarter. Southern Indiana would try and respond but Lindenwood would have answer for any run the Screaming Eagles went on as the Lions outscored them 23-20 in the quarter and led 57-38 headed to the fourth.
Lindenwood would take care of business in the final quarter never letting Southern Indiana get within 14 and ride comfortably to a 75-56 win.
Lindenwood would then recognize its three seniors, Odom, Mariah Stewart and Mary McGrath during the postgame.
With the regular season winding down, Lindenwood begins a four-game road trip to end the season, starting with Little Rock on Thursday, Feb. 20, beginning at 5 p.m. streaming exclusively on ESPN+.
