Complete Game Notes in .pdf format here

Storyline
The Lindenwood Lady Lions basketball team will start a crucial stretch of the 2010-11 season starting on Saturday afternoon.

The stretch will start with a game against the defending HAAC champions, the William Jewell Cardinals in Liberty, Mo. Lindenwod and William Jewell are also tied for second place in the conference standings.
After the road game, the team will return home to take on the Benedictine Ravens, who is just one loss behind Lindenwood in the HAAC standings.  

These two teams combined for 30 HAAC wins last season and once again are in the top portion of the standings.

Over the last two weeks the Lady Lions have been playing their best basketball and look to continue the season long five-game winning-streak.

Last Time Out
The Lady Lions continued its winning streak last Saturday afternoon with a 69-51 win over visiting MidAmerica Nazarene. The win was the fifth in a row for the Lady Lions.

Lindenwood dominated the play in the paint, outscoring the Pioneers 38-20, and also recorded four more rebounds. The Lady Lions defense stifled the Pioneers all day. MidAmerica turned the ball over 20 times and shot just 30 percent from the field. The Lady Lions also compiled 12 steals.

For the fifth straight game, Morgan Harrington led the team in scoring with 17 points. Kelly Albers scored 12 points and led the team in rebounds with six. Abby Schultenhenrich and Christina Edwards pitched in with 10 points apiece. Sarah Schnieders and Marissa Lehnig led the team in steals with three.

Season Wins
With the team winning its 10th game of the season they have already surpassed the win total of the 2009-10 team. If the Lady Lions can win five more games this season they will record the most wins since 2001-02.

Streaking
Lindenwood has won its last five games, which is the longest winning-streak since the 2000-01 team won eight in a row. The record for the longest winning streak is 11, set in 1992-93.

Good Start
The Lady Lions have started the season with a 10-6 record, which is the best start since the 2008-09 team went 9-7 in its first 16 games.

Leading the Way
Sophomore guard, Morgan Harrington has become the team's go to scorer. In the Lady Lions' last five games she has led the team in scoring, and has averaged 21.4 points. During the stretch the sophomore from Belleville, Ill. has shot the ball extremely well. From the field she is 28 for 60, seven for 13 from behind the three-point line, and 44 for 55 from the free-throw line.

Harrington now is tops on the team in scoring (15.1), free throw percentage (.836), and three point percentage (.459).

Stellar Defense
Defense has been a strong teaching point for head coach Tony Francis and the teaching has spilled over to the court. Lindenwood's defense is only giving up 64.1 points a night and has held opponents to under 38 percent shooting. The field goal percentage is good for second in the conference.

When the Lady Lions' defense holds opponents to under 69 points they are 9-0.  

Center of Attention
Center Kelly Albers has made her presence felt in the paint. The senior is leading the team with 8.8 rebounds per game, 12 blocks, and a .53 shooting percentage.  She is also second on the team with 12.1 points a game.

So far this season she has recorded a conference high six double-doubles.                 

Her best night of the season came against Harris-Stowe earlier in the season when she scored 22 points while grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds.

Scoring Is Tops
After a slow start of the season the Lady Lions have catapulted itself to the top of the conference in scoring. The team is leading the HAAC, with 69.6 points scored a game and are second in the conference with a total of 1,114 points.

When the team scores over its average of 69 points, the Lady Lions are 7-0.

Young Talent
The 2010-11 edition of the Lady Lions is a very young squad. The roster has a total of seven freshman. The seven freshmen have combined for 23 starts and are averaging a combined 24 points a game, which is 35 percent of the team's scoring. Caroline Bourlioux leads the group averaging 8.1 points.

Scouting The Cardinals
The William Jewell Cardinals start the week tied for first place in the HAAC with Evangel. The two teams will face each other before the Lady Lions travel to William Jewell.

The Cardinals are third in the conference in scoring defense, giving up just 60 points a game. The offense is averaging 64 points.

Leading the way for the Cardinals is a three-some that scores in double-figures, led by senior forward, Katie Bond. She is averaging 12.7 points and 4.5 rebounds. Sophomore guard, Holly Switzer, is second on the team with 11.4 points and freshman, Chelsea Meeks, is scoring 10.1, and leading the team with over three assists a game. 

Jill Cress begins her 15th year as the head coach of the women's basketball program at William Jewell. The Cardinals overall record under Cress' leadership is 296-163

Scouting The Ravens
The Benedictine Ravens currently have an overall record of 11-6 and a HAAC mark of 4-3. The Ravens will take on Missouri Valley before battling the Lady Lions. Benedictine have won its last two conference games against Central Methodist and Graceland.
 
Benedictine is averaging 63.9 points and game and are second in the conference in scoring defense with an average of 60.4. The Ravens are in the top 30 in the country in scoring defense and assists per game, with 15.

Leading the way for Ravens is Kelsey Wolfe and Kaela Stratman, who are both averaging 9.6 points a game. Jillian Flores leads the team in rebounding, with 9.6 a game.

Chad Folsom enters his tenth year as the head coach of the Benedictine women's basketball program. In his first nine years, Coach Folsom has compiled a 195-98 overall record at Benedictine. In 2006, Coach Folsom became the winningest coach in Benedictine women's basketball history

Last Time
Last season the Lady Lions compiled a 2-3 mark against Benedictine and Willliam Jewell.
Lindenwood played William Jewell three times last season, which included the first round of the HAAC tournament.  The Cardinals beat the Lady Lions by an average of 29 points.
 
In 2009-10 the Lady Lions swept the season series against Benedictine. Lindenwood beat the Ravens in St. Charles, 77-69, then won on the road in Atchison 71-68.

Up Next
After the crucial two game stretch the Lady Lions will take on the Culver-Stockton Wildcats on the road. After the road game the team will have a chance to avenge its only two conferences losses. Baker and Evangel will come to St. Charles for the rematches.