Box Score By the end of the first half of Saturday's women's basketball conference game in St. Joseph, Mo., Lindenwood already had more turnovers (17) than they averaged in the previous 18 games.

Host Missouri Western State University feasted offensively on those turnovers scoring 20 points off of them and ending the half on an 18-3 run. The Griffons led the Lady Lions 42-24 with 16 minutes 36 seconds left in the game. But poor free-throw shooting by the Griffons and a furious rally by the Lady Lions turned the MIAA game into a slugfest that ended with the home team escaping 65-62.

With the loss the Lady Lions fell to 10-9 overall and 5-7 in the MIAA. After beating Central Missouri, which led the conference at the time, the Lady Lions have lost two games in three days to teams with a combined 4-16 conference record going into the week. The Griffons have won two straight MIAA games and improved to 9-10, 4-8.

"We've been talking about consistency and using past experiences as motivation, but if you don't play for 40 minutes in this league you get it handed to you," Lindenwood coach Tony Francis said.

The Griffons pressured the Lady Lions on each possession and held leading scorer Kassidy Gengenbacher scoreless in the first half. Gengenbacher entered the game averaging 14.6 points and was in the top 10 in conference scoring, but she finished with seven points, her lowest output since Nov. 16.

"They did what we went through in the scouting report and practice," Francis said. "We knew they'd defend our ball screen a certain way, and I like people to attack our screens aggressively, they did that and we did not handle it as instructed. We didn't handle the first half the way we were supposed to. It's from the neck up."

Sophomore Dru Haertling scored a season-high 18 points to lead the Lady Lions. Haertling made 6 of 11 shots from the field, was 2 of 2 from three-point range and made all four free-throw attempts. She also grabbed five rebounds and led her team with three assists. It's the second time in three games Haertling has posted double-figure offense.

"We know Dru is a good shooter, it's a matter of her getting confidence in herself," Francis said. "We've got her out of her funk and she's going to pick it up.  Now we need four or five others to do it, too."

Sophomore Jenny Rocha was the other Lady Lions player to score in double figure with 12 points. Senior Caroline Bourlioux had eight points and eight rebounds for the Lady Lions. Teammate Julie Hlinak had eight points and eight rebounds. Hlinak has 24 rebounds in the last three games.

Gengenbacher tied the game 51-51 with 4:38 left with an old-fashioned three-point play. Gengenbacher cut the Griffons' lead to 57-55 with a layup with 2:21 left. Haertling assisted on the play.

The Griffons missed a shot on their next possession and Bourlioux, also held scoreless in the first half, grabbed the rebound. After a timeout, Bourlioux missed a layup, Jallisa Lewis grabbed the rebound and Sharniece Lewis drained a three-pointer with 46 seconds left.

After the basket, junior forward Quenisha Lockett was called for her fourth foul, sending Bourlioux to the free-throw line. Bourlioux made both free throws to make it a one-possession game with 39 seconds left.  With 23 seconds left, Haertling made a pair of free throws to make it 61-59 Griffons. After a Griffon free throw boosted the lead back to three points, Rocha missed a shot, the Griffons grabbed the rebound and after Rocha fouled, senior Tiffanie Abrams made both free throws.

Haertling sank a three-pointer with an assist by Rocha with 1 second left to cut the lead to 64-62. The Griffons made one more free throw, missed the second, and time expired before the Lady Lions could get off a last shot.

The Lady Lions travel to Jefferson City to play Lincoln Wednesday. And despite Lincoln's 0-13 MIAA record, the Lady Lions have burned up all of the credit they earned by beating Central Missouri Jan. 25.

"On this coaching staff there's a lot of experience and we know a team not having won a conference game on their home floor will be hungry," Francis said. "We expect a battle in every sense of the word."