TONIGHT'S GAME
• The Lindenwood Lady Lions travel to Lebanon, Ill. to take on cross-town rival McKendree. The Lions enter the game with a record of 4-0 while the Bearcats are searching for their first win.
• Lindenwood is coming off a pair of wins at the FCA & Zaxby's Tip-Off Classic. The Lady Lions beat Selma 83-40 and Lane 82-65.
• The McKendree Bearcats come into the contest with a record of 0-3. The Bearcats are coming off a 66-62 loss at home to the Lincoln Blue Tigers.
• Lindenwood and McKendree have met a lot over the years. Over the last 10 games the Bearcats hold the edge six wins to four. The Lions have a record of 10-4 in Lebanon.
LINDENWOOD NOTES
• The Lady Lions 4-0 start is the best start in the Tony Francis era. Its also the best start since Lindenwood started 3-1 in 2008-09.
• The game against McKendree will be the first true road game of the season for the Lady Lions. In 2012-13, Lindenwood compiled a record of 3-13 away from St. Charles.
• Lindenwood has held the lead with five minutes to go in every game this season. The closest a team has been at the point of the game is six points.
• With the double digit scoring game against Arkansas-Monticello Gengenbacher has now scored in double figures in 13 of her last 14 games dating back to last season.
• Last season, when the Lady Lions held a lead heading into the halftime break the team was 13-2. On the flip side, when the team was trailing its record was just 1-10. So far this season the team is 4-0 when leading at the half.
• Rebounding has been a very successful aspect of the Lady Lions game this season. Lindenwood has won the rebounding battle in every game so far.
• To start the season the Lady Lions defense has been stifling. Lindenwood has held every opponent to under 50 percent shooting so far this season. Against Selma the Lady Lions held them to just 19 percent shooting.
• In her first season on the court for the Lady Lions Vanessa Zailo has been a beast on the boards. She is averaging 13.3 rebounds a game and has double digit boards in every game but one this season. Her best rebounding game came against Arkansas-Monticello when she grabbed 18 rebounds.
• During the Tony Francis Era the Lady Lions have compiled a 33-22 record at home in front of the Lindenwood faithful.
• In 2013-14, the Lady Lions finished the season with a record of 5-4 against non-conference teams and have started this season 4-0.
• Once again this season, turning the ball over has been an issue in the early season for the Lady Lions. Lindenwood has turned the ball over 75 times in just four games.
• This year's roster will welcome six newcomers to the Lindenwood family. The newcomers will consist of four freshman, a division I transfer, and a walk on.
• The reigning MIAA Freshman of the Year, Kassidy Gengenbacher is back for her sophomore season. Gengenbacher exploded onto the scene last year averaging over 16 points a game in her first year of college basketball. The sophomore scored over 450 points.
• Lindenwood will return 62% of its scoring output from 2013-14. It will return its top scorer in Gengenbacher plus Morgan Johnson and Rocha who both averaged over nine points a game.
• New assistant coach Morgan Harrington is no stranger to Lindenwood. Before becoming a coach she played two seasons at Lindenwood and helped lead the Lady Lions to the brink of the NAIA National Tournament in 2010-11. After graduating from Lindenwood, Harrington went to Murray State where she was a graduate assistant.
• The Lady Lions return four of their five main starters from a season ago. The only starter not back is Caroline Bourlioux.
• Lindenwood was picked as the seventh best team in the MIAA preseason coaches poll. The coaches picked Emporia State as the top team in the conference followed by Pittsburg State, Washburn and Fort Hays as the top four.
