The Lindenwood women's basketball team defeated Flagler 89-74 on Sunday afternoon in St. Augustine, Fla.
 
Kallie Bildner registered a double-double as she led the team with 27 points and 11 rebounds on 10-of-15 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.  CeCe Rapp put up 14 points with seven rebounds and added one block while Gabby Walker scored 10 points with four rebounds, one block, one steal, and one assist.  Lindenwood shot just under 50 percent from the field, made 89 percent of its free-throws, and grabbed 54 rebounds to just 25 for the Saints.
 
Head Coach Tony Francis was pleased with the victory, but the late run by Flagler caused some discomfort as the Lady Lions turned the ball over 24 times in the game.
 
"It was nice to get everyone playing time and finish off the trip with a win," said Francis.  In his closing remarks, Francis ended, "we are going home feeling good about ourselves, but we have a lot to work on before out next game."
 
Bildner knocked down her first-career three-pointer to put Lindenwood on top 3-0 just 13 seconds in the game.  Flagler went on a strong run to take 9-5 lead, but a great pass by Lindsay Medlen on a fast-break to Hannah Reller cut the deficit to two points.  Sara Ross tied the game at 9-9 after knocking down two free-throws.  The Lady Lions regained the lead after a Bildner layup game Lindenwood a 13-11 advantage.  Ross later knocked down a big three-pointer to put the Lady Lions up 18-11 and helped Lindenwood close out the quarter with a 20-13 lead.
 
In the second quarter Lindenwood attacked the paint with Rapp and Bildner.  The two bigs scored 10 of the Lady Lions' next 12 points aiding Lindenwood to a 34-24 lead with five minutes remaining in the half.  Jerricah Butler and Bre Zanders pitched in from off the bench as at 42-25 lead resulted at the three-minute mark.  Flagler went on a strong run to end the half, but the final four points went in favor of the Lady Lions ending with a 48-33 Lindenwood lead.
 
Bildner was a force in the opening half as she finished with 16 points and six rebounds, leading the Lady Lions in both categories.  Ross was 3-for-4 from the free-throw line while Rapp knocked down her only two attempts.  Alex Haley made great plays as she compiled four assists, one block, one steal, and two points.  Butler was all around the basket in her six minutes played as she tallied five rebounds and two points to help spark the Lady Lions.
 
Haley opened the second half with a spark as she knocked down a jumper before finding Kylie Ferguson for a three-pointer for the 53-35 lead.  Neither the Lady Lions nor Saints had much scoring until the five-minute-mark when Reller started a fast run with back-to-back buckets.  Walker moved in to the scoring with six-straight points and Bildner followed with four consecutive free-throws made to increase her scoring total.  Rapp added two late free throws to put Lindenwood up 72-49 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
The Lady Lions scored nine points in the first two minutes of the final frame with the help of five points by Bildner.  Flagler put together a string of points to make it an 85-67 game with 3:35 to go in the final quarter.  The Saints kept fighting back to a 13-point deficit with just under two-minutes remaining in the game with the help of holding the Lady Lions scoreless in over three minutes of play.  Bildner scored her final points of the game to break the drought and Lindenwood finished the game with an 89-74 victory.

Lindenwood imporves to 1-1 on the year after its first win of 2016-17.  The Lady Lions will travel to McKendree on Saturday to take on the Bearcats in Lebanon, Ill. at 1 p.m.