After leading for most of the first half on Wednesday night at Northwest Missouri State the Lady Lions could not hold on in the final half and fell 81-72.

The first half was all Lindenwood with the visitors shooting 45 percent from the field and led by four at the half. Ariel Easton of Northwest Missouri kept the Bearcats in the game scoring 27 of the team's 35 first half points.

Unfortunatley, for the Lady Lions the second half was quite the opposite. Northwest Missouri came out of the locker room and its offense started to click. The turning point in the game came midway through the second half. The Bearcats went on an 18-4 run to take control of the game.

 Lindenwood tried to battle back but could not get any closer than six. The Bearcats closed out the win from the charity stripe. The Lady Lions had no answer for Easton who scored 36 points.

Lindenwood finished the game shooting 36 percent from the field and just 16 percent from behind the arc. The Lady Lions won the rebounding battle 49-38 including a dominating 17-9 performance on the offensive glass.

Vanessa Zailo once again had a dominate performance on the glass. The sophomore followed up a 27 rebound game with 18 boards and 16 points. The double-double was her second straight. Kassidy Gengenbacher led the team in points with 24, while Kylie Ferguson pitched in with 12.

The loss dropped the Lady Lions to 9-9 overall and 2-9 in MIAA play. Up next for Lindenwood is a home game on Saturday afternoon against Missouri Western.