Today's Contest
- Lindenwood is locked into seventh place in the MIAA Tournament, regardless of the outcome of tonight's game against Missouri Southern. Missouri Southern could clinch the fourth and final conference bye with a win against the Lady Lions. The Lady Lions will host any one of five teams that could finish 10th in the MIAA. The first MIAA Tournament game in Lady Lions history is 7 p.m. Monday at Hyland Arena.
- A considerable height advantage for the Lions gave them a noteable edge against the Lady Lions in the first meeting in Joplin Jan. 15. Missouri Southern led 40-30 at halftime and held off a Lindenwood rally with a 72-61 victory. Senior center Shonte Clay (6-foot-2) led all scorers with 19 points for the Lions. Lindenwood junior guard
Morgan Johnson made three 3-point baskets and led the Lady Lions with 16 points. Freshman
Kassidy Gengenbacher (14) and senior
Caroline Bourlioux (11) also scored in double figures for the Lady Lions.
Lindenwood Notes
- Going into the locker room trailing Lincoln 30- 24, the Lady Lions carried the baggage of a 0-10 record in games they were behind at the break. But freshman
Kassidy Gengenbacher made two free throws with 15 minutes 45 seconds left in the game to tie it 34-34. Lincoln made a free throw to regain the lead 35-34, but Gengenbacher drilled a three-point shot to give the Lady Lions a 37-35 lead with 15:10 left. The lead changed six more times before the Lady Lions pulled away with a 63-56 victory.
- Gengenbacher keeps moving up the MIAA charts. She climbed to seventh in scoring (15.0 points), fourth in steals (1.8), second in free-throw percentage (.828) and passed teammate
Morgan Johnson for the conference lead in three-point percentage (.429). In the past 20 games, Gengenbacher has scored fewer than 10 points only once. She's a legitimate candidate for MIAA Freshman of the Year.
- Senior
Marissa Lehnig is out for the season after breaking her collarbone diving for a loose ball against Central Missouri Feb. 15. It was Lehnig's 100th game of her four-year career with the Lady Lions. She finished with 902 points, 344 rebounds, and took 707 shots for a .443 field-goal average. Lehnig's most successful season offensively was her sophomore year where she started 23 of 27 games, shot .483 and averaged 12.1 points.
- In Lehnig's absence, senior
Cassie Bluemner will become a more integral part in the Lady Lions MIAA Tournament plans. Bluemner grabbed five rebounds against Lincoln and now has 202 in her four-year career with the Lady Lions. She has scored 282 points in 93 career games.
- Today's game against Missouri Southern marks the homecoming of Sharese Jones, a 2012 graduate of Francis Howell Central. Explosive offensively, Jones (5-foot-8) scored almost 2,000 points for the high school in Cottleville, and now ranks as one of the up-and-coming players in the MIAA. Jones averages 13.8 points. 6.4 rebounds and is fifth in the conference on field-goal percentage (.538), and third in free-throw percentage (.801). Jones, Gengenbacher and Lindenwood sophomore
Jenny Rocha give the conference a bright future at the guard position.
- Around the league: with the MIAA Tournament starting Monday, this is a good time to catch up with the other teams in the conference. Lindenwood fans got a good look at Central Missouri senior forward Keuna Flax when the Jennies were at Hyland Arena Feb. 15. This week Flax was named the MIAA women's basketball Athlete of the Week for the fifth time this season. Flax leads the conference with 20.7 points per game. Fort Hays State junior center Kate Lehman is on track to finish the season with a double-double. Lehman is averaging 17.1 points (third in the MIAA) and 11.1 rebounds (first). She's the only player in the conference averaging more than 2.7 blocked shots per game with 5.2.
Last Time Out
- It took all 40 minutes for the Lady Lions to beat Lincoln University 63-56 Saturday at Hyland Arena. The win means the Lady Lions, 14-11 overall, 9-9 in the MIAA, will host a conference tournament game March 3.
- Lincoln, which fell to 5-20, 2-16, was a thorn in the Lady Lions' paw in both games this season despite being in last place in the conference. The Blue Tigers beat the Lady Lions 67-58 Feb. 6 in Jefferson City and looked determined to pull off another upset. The Lady Lions led 5-4 with 16 minutes 36 seconds left in the first half, but didn't regain the lead until freshman
Kassidy Gengenbacher sank a three-point shot with 15:10 left in the game. The game went back and forth from there.
- Gengenbacher and sophomore guard
Jenny Rocha led the Lady Lions with 17 points apiece. Senior
Caroline Bourlioux matched her season average with 12 points.
Missouri Southern State University notes
- The NCAA released the first Division II Central Region Rankings last week and Missouri Southern is ranked ninth. The Lions are vying for a first-round bye in the upcoming MIAA Tournament. The top four teams in the tournament await winners of teams ranked fifth through 12th in the quarterfinals March 6 in Kansas City. The Central Region consists of teams from the MIAA, Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and Great American Conference.
- No MIAA team has a player that provides the offensive impact off the bench that senior forward Dominique Mosley does for Missouri Southern. Mosley has played in all 24 games and leads the Lions with 15.7 points per game, which is fifth in the MIAA. Mosley is sixth in the conference in free-throw percentage (.766) and 10th in rebounding (7.3).
