The Lindenwood women's basketball team fell to Northeastern State on Thursday night by a final 61-54 in Tahlequah, Okla.
 
The Lady Lions opened up the game with back-to-back free throws by Beth Maenpaa to begin scoring.  Neither team scored until the 5:29 mark when Charisse Williams hit a layup to put the Lady Lions up 4-0, but Northeastern State hit three-pointer to make it a one-point game.  The RiverHawks hit another three-pointer, but Kassidy Gengenbacher scored to tie the game at 6-6.  The Lady Lions finished the first quarter up 10-9.
 
Lindenwood continued its momentum into the second quarter by scoring five straight points that was capped off with a Williams' three-point-play.  With over one minute to go in the first half, Kylie Ferguson drained a three-point shot to give Lindenwood a five-point lead.  The Lady Lions held on to the slim lead heading into the half.
 
The RiverHawks came out in the second half with a lot of offense.  Northeastern State went on a 14-3 run to take a 32-24 lead, and took over the momentum.  The Lady Lions pulled within three points, but the RiverHawks continued to extend their lead throughout the third quarter, including a 40-31 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
 
Both teams struggled to score earlier on in the fourth quarter, but a three-pointer by Williams with 7:55 remaining in the game pulled Lindenwood within six points.  Lindenwood fought back to tie the game at 44-44 after a three-point bucket by Gengenbacher.  The Lady Lions took a two-point lead after back-to-back free throws by Gengenbacher, but the lead was short-lived.  The RiverHawks took a lead with just under five minutes remaining and held on to the lead to defeat the Lady Lions 61-54.
 
The Lady Lions outrebounded the RiverHawks 44-33, but turned the ball over 17 times.  Gengenbacher tallied 18 points with eight rebounds.  Williams scored 11 points, Rocha dropped 10, and Vanessa Zailo grabbed 12 points, including her 500th career rebound.  Lindenwood allowed 24 points in the paint, and 15 points off of turnovers.  Head Coach Tony Francis felt his team had a tough time holding the RiverHawks at bay.

"We initially didn't respond to their run at the begining of the third quarter," Francis said, "Once we relaxed and started playing to our strengths, we closed the gap." Francis added, "However, we let the home team gain confidence and their momentum was too much to overcome in the end."  Francis noted, "This group is learning every game."

 
The loss sets the Lady Lions back to 7-13 on the year and 3-11 in the MIAA.  The Lady Lions will travel to Edmond, Okla. on Saturday to take on Central Oklahoma at 1:30 p.m.