The Lindenwood women's basketball team defeated Puerto Rico-Mayaguez 68-56 in the home opener at Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo. on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Gabby Walker led the team with 19 points and eight rebounds while Kylie Ferguson made two three-pointers and totaled 12 points.  Charisse Williams had a well-rounded game with five points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals.  Lindenwood tallied 52 rebounds and dished out 15 assists while shooting just under 40 percent from the field.
 
Puerto-Rico-Mayaguez jumped out to a fast-paced start, but the Lady Lions responded with poise.  Lindenwood grabbed ten rebounds in the first five minutes and held a 7-4 lead at the media timeout with the help of strong post play.  Gabby Walker and Kallie Bildner each had two points while Megan Foster added two points from mid-range.  Lindsay Medlen picked up the pace for the Lady Lions after hitting a three-pointer with 3:14 remaining in the first quarter.  Less than 30 seconds later, Medlen threw a long pass to Kylie Ferguson for the fast-break layup to put Lindenwood up 14-11.  Walker added a tough bucket in the paint to put the Lady Lions in front 16-11 after the first quarter of play.  The Lady Lions outrebounded the Janes 15-4, but shot 28 percent from the field and made on three-pointer on six attempts.
 
Beth Maenpaa extended the lead to seven points after a layup, but the Janes went on a six-point run to pull within one.  Hannah Reller hit a free throw and Walker put in a layup to put Lindenwood back up by two possessions, but the Janes fought back to tie the game at 21-21 with 5:45 remaining in the first half.  Ferguson knocked down a big three-pointer at the halfway point of the second quarter, but again, Puerto Rico-Mayaguez responded to tie the game.  The Janes took the lead after a pair of free-throws and a layup put the Lady Lions down four with 3:25 remaining in the half.  Lindenwood chipped away and tied the game at 32-32 at the one-minute mark and Alex Haley nailed a long jump shot along with the free-throw to put Lindenwood up 35-32 at the break.  Walker led the squad with eight points while Ferguson tallied seven points.
 
The second half got off to a slow start as both teams each scored just one bucket in the first two minutes of play.  Ferguson continued her fluid shooting with another three-point shot to give Lindenwood a five-point lead.  Walker was a force down in the paint as she scored back-to-back baskets to extend the Lindenwood lead to 44-35 with 6:17 remaining in the third quarter.  The Lady Lions struggled on offense as the Janes made a six-point run while Lindenwood did not score again until the 1:48 mark after Walker scored her 14th point of the game.  Walker scored 30 seconds later on a three-point-play to give Lindenwood an eight-point lead.  Puerto Rico-Mayaguez closed out the half with a jump shot to end the third quarter trailing the Lady Lions 51-45.
 
Lindenwood picked up the pace in the final frame with the help of a fast layup by Charisse Williams and a strong layup by Bildner put the Lady Lions up 55-47 with 8:45 remaining.  Walker knocked down a mid-range jumper and Haley hit back-to-back jumpers to put Lindenwood up 62-50 with less than five minutes to go in the game.  Foster snagged an offensive rebound and put it back to force the Janes to call a timeout with 3:52 remaining in the game.  The Janes made a late push, but the Lady Lions held on for the 68-56 win.
 
Lindenwood improves to 2-2 on the season after the home-opening victory in Hyland Arena.  The Lady Lions will stay in Hyland Arena on Tuesday when they host Lindenwood-Belleville at 7 p.m. in St. Charles, Mo.