The Lindenwood women's basketball team dropped the MIAA-opener 95-80 to No. 4 Pittsburg State on Thursday night in Hyland Arena.
 
Kallie Bildner led the team with 21 points and three assists while Charisse Williams scored 16 points with a team-high six rebounds and tallied two assists.  Gabby Walker scored 15 points with five rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting.  The Lady Lions outrebounded the Gorillas 35-28, but Pittsburg State scored 25 points off of 19 Lindenwood turnovers.  Pittsburg State shot 54 percent from the field while Lindenwood shot just under 50 percent with a 49.2 field goal percentage.
 
Pittsburg State jumped out a fast start with a 5-2 lead in the first two minutes of the game.  Lindsay Medlen cut the deficit to two points after a quick layup, but the Gorillas went on a 6-0 run nearing the halfway point in the first quarter.  Megan Foster came off the bench to score five quick points to make it an 11-9 ballgame with 4:47 remaining in the opening frame.  Pittsburg State went on another run to go up 20-9 after a minute and a half, but the Lady Lions roared back to a 22-16 Gorilla lead after Bildner pitched in for five points to close out the quarter.
 
Both teams traded buckets for the first five minutes in the second quarter, but back-to-back free-throws by Jerricah Butler put Lindenwood down just three points with 4:56 to go in the half.  In a span of 30 second, Williams scored two layups in a row to give the Lady Lions their first lead of the game 34-33 with three minutes remaining.  Pittsburg State made a three-pointer to regain the lead, but Williams stayed hot with a deep ball of her own to put Lindenwood back up by one with 2:23 to go in the second quarter.  The Gorillas were able to tie the game at 40-40 before heading in for halftime.
 
Walker led the team with 10 points at the break while Bildner had nine and Williams registered eight.  Both the Gorillas and Lady Lions shot over 50 percent in the first half and over 30 percent from behind the arc.  Points in the paint were even at 22-22 while the Lindenwood bench produced seven points to just three for the Gorillas.
 
The second half began much similar to the end of the first half with both teams trading baskets.  Walker and Williams continued to be the point producers on offense as Walker scored her 12th point of the game on her first shot of the second half.  Williams tallied four points in the first five minutes of the third quarter and Beth Maenpaa helped keep the Lady Lions fighting strong.  Maenpaa scored her first bucket at the 6:50 mark and just before the media timeout she scored a bucket and was fouled to put Lindenwood down two with 4:55 remaining in the third frame.  Pittsburg State went on a 10-4 run in the next 1:30 to take a 66-58 lead.
 
The Gorillas nailed a three-pointer to put the Lady Lions in a bigger hole, but Sara Ross played with great energy and toughness to get to the free-throw line.  Ross made three-consecutive free-throws to pull Lindenwood within six points with just over one minute to go in the third quarter.  Pittsburg State added two more free-throws to take a 71-63 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
 
Bildner opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back buckets to pull the Lady Lions within four points.  Lindenwood struggled to keep the Gorillas off the board for a short stretch as Pittsburg State took an 86-71 lead with just over four minutes to play.  Lindenwood was able to keep it a 15-point game with 2:22 remaining in the game to make one last push to the end.  Pittsburg State stayed strong throughout the remainder of the game and held on to the 95-80 win over the Lady Lions.
 
 
Lindenwood falls to 4-3 on the season and 0-1 in the MIAA while No. 4 Pittsburg State stays undefeated at 10-0 overall and 3-0 in conference play.  The Lady Lions will stay in Hyland Arena for a 1:30 p.m. game against Missouri Southern on Saturday in St. Charles, Mo.