The Lindenwood Lady Lions basketball team traveled to Springfield, Mo. on Thursday night and fell to the Evangel Crusaders 80-54.

Evangel jumped out to an early 12-0 lead while Lindenwood struggled early, not scoring its first basket until almost five minutes into the game. The first half was dominated by Evangel. The home team shot 60 percent from behind the arc and headed into the intermission with a commanding 43-19 lead. Lindenwood's 19 points was the team's lowest scoring half of the season.

In the second half, the Lady Lions started with a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 15 but that was as close as the visitors would get. Following the Lady Lions run, Evangel answered with a 17-3 run to break the game open. 

Lindenwood shot just 36 percent from the field while Evangel shot 48 percent from the field and 63 percent from behind the arc. The Lady Lions turned the ball over a season-high 25 times.  Lindenwood did outrebound the Crusaders 31-30.

Leading the way for the Lady Lions was Sarah Schnieders who scored 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting. Abby Schultenhenrich chipped in with 12 and Caroline Bourlioux led the team with six rebounds.

With the loss the Lady Lions drop to 5-6 overall and 1-2 in HAAC play. Lindenwood will have almost a month off until its next contest on January 6 against Missouri Valley at home.