Today's Contest
- The Lady Lions play Missouri Western twice in the next week, starting Saturday in St. Joseph, Mo. The Lady Lions are coming off a tough 70-59 loss at Hyland Arena, while the Griffons' defense shined in a 42-28 win over Lincoln Wednesday. Lincoln shot just 17.1 percent from the field. Missouri Western is fourth in the MIAA in scoring defense and allow just 59 points per game.
- Both the Lady Lions and Griffons have shaken up their starting lineups in recent weeks. After inserting freshman forward
Bre Zanders in place of senior
Caroline Bourlioux for two games, Lindenwood coach
Tony Francis had Bourlioux back with the starters Thursday. While the rest of the Lady Lions struggled, Bourlioux scored 16 points and set a career record with six offensive rebounds. Junior forward Quenisha Lockett (6-foot-2) started 15 games for the Griffons but has come off the bench in the last two. Lockett is second on the Griffons in scoring (8.5) and rebounding (5.9).
Lindenwood Notes
- With just eight games remaining in the regular season it's crunch time for the Lady Lions in their push to qualify for the MIAA Tournament. Thursday's 70-59 loss at home to Northwest Missouri is a reminder that the Lady Lions need their A-game against the teams below them in the conference standings, not just against nationally ranked teams. The Lady Lions have made great strides in their first official season in the MIAA, an invitation to the tournament and the exposure it provides the program would help bring more talent to St. Charles.
- There are 14 teams in the MIAA, but only 12 seeds are up for grabs in the tournament which begins March 3. The Lady Lions travel to play Missouri Western (2-8, 7-10) Saturday and Lincoln, Mo. (0-10, 3-14) Feb. 5. If the Lady Lions win those two games against teams below them in the standings they would go a long way to gaining a tournament seed.
- Senior forward
Caroline Bourlioux is approaching two milestones in her four-year career with the Lady Lions. Bourlioux has 491 career rebounds and 910 career points. While reaching 500 rebounds is practically ensured, any extra tournament games the Lady Lions might play would help her to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
- Freshman guard
Kassidy Gengenbacher's scoring average continues to climb after she scored 18 against Northwest Missouri. Gengenbacher is averaging 14.6 points in all games and 15.9 in MIAA contests. Her four steals Thursday gives her 37 this season, tied for second in the conference.
- Freshman guard
Traci Keller replaced
Jenny Rocha after she fouled out. Keller finished with a season-high two assists. Keller assisted on Bourlioux's jump shot with 5:22 left, then assisted on Gengenbacher's three-pointer with 1:50 left, before scoring the game's final basket with 13 seconds to play.
- Junior guard
Julie Hlinak has 16 rebounds in the past two games for the Lady Lions. Hlinak added 10 points against Northwest Missouri and was one of few Lady Lions to stay out of foul trouble.
- Lindenwood fell to second in the MIAA in field goal percentage (.461) last week and their 40 percent shooting from the field Thursday was their fourth-worst performance this season. The Lady Lions failed to make 40 percent of their shots against University of Missouri-St. Louis, Nebraska-Kearney and Emporia State.
- The Lady Lions are the top three-point shooting team (.340) in the MIAA, but are second-to-last in three-point defense (.337).
Last Time Out
- The Lady Lions couldn't take advantage of the momentum after beating No. 8 ranked Central Missouri following a flat 70-59 loss to Northwest Missouri. The Bearcats entered the game 4-13 overall and 2-8 in the conference. The Lady Lions were whistled for 25 fouls, and the Bearcats made them pay by making 26 of 31 free throws.
- The Bearcats pulled down more rebounds (40-29), but the Lady Lions shot better from the field (40 percent to 39.6), had fewer turnovers (15-16) and more blocks (3-1). The game's biggest discrepancy was at the free-throw line where the Bearcats made 26 of 31 and the Lady Lions just 5 of 9.
- Sophomore guard
Jenny Rocha fouled out for the first time in her career with the Lady Lions. Rocha turned the ball over four times and scored two points on 1 of 5 shooting.
- Freshman
Kassidy Gengenbacher led the Lady Lions with 18 points.
Missouri Western State University Notes
- The Griffons qualified for the MIAA Tournament last season. They beat Pittsburg State 71-67 in the first round and were beaten 54-53 by Central Missouri.
- The Griffons are 0-5 in road conference games this season. The Griffons are 7-2 at the Fieldhouse. Saturday's game against the Lady Lions is the third all-time meeting between the two schools. The Griffons are 2-0 against the Lady Lions. The Griffons won last year's meeting 65-59, and the previous meeting 99-47 during the 1982-83 season.
- The Griffons do not lack for size or experience. Juniors Quenisha Lockett (6-foot-2), Tiara Hall (6-1), Krysten Crawford (6-0), Friday Chuoi (6-3), Alexis Gray (6-3) and seniors Jallisa Lewis (5-11), Sharniece Lewis (5-10), and Tiffanie Abrams (5-10) give them an imposing amount of depth in the post.
