Complete Game Notes in .pdf Format Here

Storyline
The Lindenwood women's basketball team is set to start off a very busy week. The Lady Lions will start the week with a home game against the University of Illinois-Springfield. Following the home contest, the team will travel to Spearfish, S.D. for the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Thanksgiving Classic.

While at the classic, the Lions will take on the host school, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, before ending the weekend against Black Hills State.

Lindenwood will be looking to break through in the win column after falling in its first two contests.

Even though the Lady Lions are winless on the season, the team is shooting over 48 percent from the field and averaging almost 70 points.  

Last Time Out
The Lady Lions basketball team lost its first road game of the season, 74-66 to Kentucky Wesleyan last Wednesday night in Owensboro, Ky.

Lindenwood jumped out to a quick start, going on a 7-0 run in the first five minutes of the game. The Lady Lions continued to lead for most of the first half, until the nine minute mark, when the momentum took a major shift. Kentucky Wesleyan exploded and went on a 25-9 run over the next eight minutes, and led by 10. The halftime lead was eight for the home team.

The second half started promising for Lindenwood. Cassie Bluemner made a three, followed by a Caroline Bourlioux layup, and capped off by a Morgan Harrington three-pointer to cut the lead down to two. But the Lady Lions could not sustain the pressure and that was as close as Lindenwood got. Kentucky Wesleyan weathered the early storm from the Lady Lions, and grew its lead in the second half to as many as 16.

For the second straight game, Lindenwood turned the ball over 20 plus times. The Lady Lions outrebounded the Panthers 37-32 and shot 43 percent from the field.

Bluemner led the way for Lindenwood scoring a career-high 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting, including a perfect 2-for-2 from the three-point line. Bourlioux scored 12 points and dished out a team-high seven assists. Harrington pitched in with 10 points and Meagan Hittle compiled four steals.

Freshman Moxy
Freshman guard Meagan Hittle has showed a lot of poise, in the early season. She is the Lady Lions first player off the bench, and is third on the team in minutes. She has compiled the most steals on the team with six, and scores the fourth most points with an average of 9.5.

Super Sophs
Sophomores Cassie Bluemner and Marissa Lehnig have started their second collegiate season on fire. The duo is shooting 84 percent from the field and 80 percent from behind the three-point line.

Bluemner is 10-13 from the field and Lehnig is a perfect 6-6 shooting.

Road Warriors
The Lady Lions will be criss-crossing the country in 2011-12 and will also take a trip off the continental United States. Lindenwood will travel to 10 states this season including the program's first ever trip to Hawaii. The ladies will travel to Louisiana, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.


Cleaning the Glass
Even though the Lady Lions have fell in both the team's games rebounding has not been an issue. Lindenwood has outrebounded both opponents by an average of five.

Caroline Bourlioux is leading the team in rebounding with seven a game.

Getting to the Stripe
The Lady Lions have made 39 trips to the charity stripe in two games. In both games, the team has taken more free throws than its opponents. Morgan Harrington leads the way for Lindenwood, going 10-for-10 in the early season.

Leading the Way
Junior Morgan Harrington is leading the team again this season. The Belleville, Ill. native is first on the team in free-throw percentage (1.000), points (14.5), and minutes played (65).

Home Court Advantage
The Hyland Arena floor was a big advantage for the Lady Lions in 2010-11. Lindenwood compiled a record of 12-4 at home.

Young Squad
The 2011-12 version of the Lindenwood Lady Lions will be very short in the tooth.
There are no seniors on the team and just three juniors. The Lady Lions consist of four freshman, six sophomores, and the three juniors.

Opponents
This season with the Lindenwood athletics department in a transition year, the team will be taking on a wide range of opponents. The Lady Lions will play 10 NCAA Division II teams, five NAIA teams, and two NCAA Division I teams.

About the Prairie Stars
The Prairie Stars come into the contest against the Lady Lions with a record of 1-2. Illinois-Springfield has had one common opponent and just like the Lady Lions, the Prairie Stars fell to Lincoln (Mo.).

The Prairie Stars offense is averaging 66 points and is surrendering 68.7 points on defense.

Illinois-Springfield is led by a pair of sophomores. Megan Bergerud is leading the way with 16.7 points a game. The second sophomore, Alyssa Palmer, has poured in 13.3 points a game.

Marne Fauser is the head coach of the Prairie Stars. She is in her third season at the helm.   

About the Hardrockers
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology is 1-3 on the year. The Lady Hardrockers will take on Black Hills State before its matchup with the Lady Lions.

The Lady Hardrockers are scoring an average of 65.5 points a game, but are giving up 69.2 points on defense.

Leading the way for South Dakota School of Mines is a duo of junior guards.  Hillary Hawkins leads the team in scoring with 16.5 points a game. Katie Strandholm is second on the team in scoring with 12.3 points and also grabs 5.8 rebounds.

Barb Felderman is in her 30th season at the helm of the Lady Hardrockers program.

About the Yellow Jackets
Black Hills State is 1-2 on the season, and will play games against Chadron State and Morningside before taking on Lindenwood.

The Yellow Jackets are scoring 52.3 points on offense and giving up 62.3 points on defense.

Kristi Ryan and Jordan Kent are the offensive leaders for Black Hills State. In two of three games this season, the pair has averaged 15 points a contest.

Mark Nore is in his seventh season as the head coach of the Yellow Jackets. Nore has led the Yellow Jackets to back-to-back 20 win seasons.