Lindenwood Game Notes

Today's Contest
- Two of the hottest teams in the MIAA square off Saturday at Hyland Arena at 1 p.m. Lindenwood has won four straight games – all at home. Northeastern State (Okla.) has also won four games in a row. Both teams are 1-0 in the MIAA.

- The RiverHawks are coached by Randy Gipson, who has led them for 15 seasons and has a record of 278-130. The RiverHawks have never finished with a losing season with Gipson at the helm. The RiverHawks are regulars in the NCAA Division II Championships and have made two Sweet 16 appearances under Gipson.

- The RiverHawks put the Lady Lions away in the first half in last season's 87-50 win in Oklahoma. Returning Lady Lions Julie Hlinak (17 points, 6 rebounds), Marissa Lehnig (13 points, 4 rebounds), and Meagan Hittle (12 points, 3 rebounds) were the leading scorers. The Lady Lions shot just 27.6 percent from the field.

Lindenwood Notes
- Lindenwood coach Tony Francis is constantly mentoring his players during games about positioning, whether it's about an individual's stance, or about zone coverage. The Lady Lions were struggling to maintain the pace being set on their own gym floor by Central Oklahoma, until Francis made a couple of corrections and substitutions. Once the Lady Lions found their pace, they kept it up for most of the rest of the game and subdued a MIAA rival to keep their winning streak alive.

- The Lady Lions are looking for their first five-game winning streak since they won six straight Feb. 5-17, 2011.

- The Lady Lions have just one more game against a non-conference opponent: Dec. 14 at home against Missouri S&T. Lindenwood plays road MIAA games at University of Nebraska- Kearney Dec. 20 and Washburn University Dec. 22 in its final two games in 2013. The Lady Lions tip off 2014 with a game at Hyland Arena Jan. 4 against the Pittsburg State University Gorillas.

- Despite shooting 43.1 percent against Central Oklahoma, the Lady Lions are still one of the top shooting teams in the MIAA. The Lady Lions are shooting at a clip of 48.6 percent and have four players – Marissa Lehnig, Caroline Bourlioux, Kassidy Gengenbacher and Morgan Johnson --averaging in double-digit scoring. All four players are shooting better than 50 percent from the field.

- Emporia State is the last unbeaten team in the MIAA. The MIAA preseason No. 1 selection by the coaches is 7-0, but hasn't played a conference game. As of Friday, the Lady Lions (5-2, 1-0) are tied with Washburn for third in the MIAA overall standings, and one of among six teams 1-0 in the MIAA.

- Lehnig set a career single-game high with eight assists against Central Oklahoma. Her previous record of assists in a game was five. Lehnig is the Lady Lions top bench player and leads them in scoring (13.9 points).

- Freshman Bre Zanders entered the game against Central Oklahoma at 15:33 and she promptly grabbed two offensive rebounds inside 10 seconds. Zanders finished with six points and four rebounds in nine minutes of action.

- A quarter of the way through the season and the Lady Lions are on the plus side of many key stats. Perhaps the most impressive is the way they've controlled the ball after missed shots. They are outrebounding their opponents by a healthy 278-229.

Last Time Out
- After playing in a post-Thanksgiving break funk for half of the first half against Central Oklahoma Thursday, the host Lady Lions found their stride and won their fourth straight game 78-71 over the Bronchos. It was the MIAA opener for both schools.

- Three Lady Lions scored in double figures against the Bronchos. Junior Morgan Johnson scored a season-high 19 points. Senior Caroline Bourlioux scored 15 points and had seven rebounds. And freshman Kassidy Gengenbacher had 15 points and four steals. Johnson made 4 of 6 shots from three-point range. She scored seven points in a span of 38 seconds to give the Lady Lions a one-point lead. Gengenbacher had two steals in the final 2:26 of the first half. Both led to baskets as the Lady Lions secured the lead before halftime. She had two of the first three baskets the Lady Lions made in the second half as they built their lead.


Northeastern State Notes
- The RiverHawks beat Lincoln University 66-53 Thursday in their first MIAA game of the season. Junior guard Chelsey Beathard scored a career-high 17 points for the RiverHawks. Beathard made 4 of 5 shots from three-point range. Junior guard Fontana Tate scored 14 for the RiverHawks and leads them with 20 three-pointers.

- The $17.1 million NSU Event Center opened last month and the women's basketball team was the first at the university to play a game in it. The 86,000 square-foot multipurpose center has flex seating for 4,000 and includes offices for NSU athletics administration and alumni association.

- The RiverHawks four-game winning streak is on the heels of a 69-67 loss in double overtime to Drury. Freshman Che'Ron Lewis had 19 points for the RiverHawks.