The Lindenwood women's basketball team picked up a big win over Fort Hays State on Saturday afternoon by a 76-70 final in Hays, Kan.
 
The Lady Lions defeated Fort Hays State who was previously ranked in the top-25 in NCAA Division II and snapped a 25-game home winning streak for Fort Hays.  The Tigers had not lost a regular-season home game since Feb. 15, 2014.  Lindenwood played one of its best games of the season after shooting 48 percent from the field including 4-of-11 from three-point range.  The Lady Lions added 30 points in the paint and picked up 13 second-chance points.  Alex Haley and Lindsay Medlen dominated the point as each player scored 16 points and dished out three assists.  Gabby Walker had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Jerricah Butler scored 14 points with seven boards.
 
Fort Hays opened up the scoring, but a layup by Medlen and a free-throw by Butler, put the Lady Lions up 3-2.  The Tigers regained the lead before Walker hit a long jump shot to tie the game at 9-9.  Fort Hays State took a 12-9 lead after knocking down a three-pointer with 4:31 to go in the first quarter.  Lindenwood fell behind 19-15 near the end of the quarter, but Charisse Williams and Butler helped tie the game and Haley hit a jumper as time expired to put the Lady Lions up 21-19 after one quarter of play.  Lindenwood was 10-for-16 from the field as Walker led the team with six points in the first frame.
 
Haley and Walker each hit a jump shot in the first two minutes of the second quarter to take a 25-21 lead over the Tigers.  Fort Hays tied the game at 25-25, but Haley knocked down her fourth jumper of the game to put the Lady Lions back in front by two points with 6:21 to go in the half.  Butler hit back-to-back free-throws to give Lindenwood a 32-30 lead and Fort Hays scored four-straight points to regain the lead with less than to minutes to go in the second quarter.  Bre Zanders knocked down a big jump shot to tie the game at 34 and Medlen drove to the bucket and got the layup as time expired to give Lindenwood a 36-34 halftime advantage.  The Lady Lions shot 53 percent from the field in the opening half and tallied 16 points in the paint.
 
Medlen opened the second half with a three-pointer just 17 seconds into the third quarter and CeCe Rapp hit her first basket of the game to put Lindenwood up 41-36 at the 8:22 mark.  Fort Hays battled back to pull within one point, but Haley hit a big three-pointer to put the Lady Lions back up by four points.  The Tigers looked like they would regain the lead, but Medlen made a tough layup with the bonus free-throw to give Lindenwood a two-possession lead with 4:48 remaining in the third frame.  Bre Zanders hit two big buckets off of two great passes by Williams to give Lindenwood a five-point lead nearing the end of the quarter.  Fort Hays battled back to cut the Lindenwood lead down to 56-54 heading into the final quarter of play.
 
Butler taliied her 10th point of the game with a big three-pointer that sparked an important offensive run by the Lady Lions.  Williams hit a bucket less than a minute later and Medlen hit a jumper and assisted a layup by Walker to put Lindenwood up 67-54 less than three minutes into the final quarter and forced a Fort Hays timeout.  Butler drained another three-pointer to give Lindenwood a 16-point lead with 6:39 to go in the game.  The Tigers clawed all the way back to pull within nine points with 3:09 left on the clock.  Fort Hays continued to slowly gain ground with the help of another three-pointer at the 1:33 mark to cut the Lindenwood lead to 73-65.  Medlen hit two clutch free-throws to add to the Lindenwood lead as the Lady Lions held on for the 76-70 win over Fort Hays State.
 
Head Coach Tony Francis was happy with the way his team played and saw large strides of progression in the conference win.
 
"I am proud of how the team stuck together through adversity against a very well-coached opponent in Fort Hays State," opened Francis.  "This was a big step in growth for the ladies," added Francis.  He closed, "The girls fought hard and more importantly stayed confident in each other."
 
Lindenwood improves to 8-11 on the season and 4-8 in the MIAA while Fort Hays is now 15-5 on the year and 6-5 in conference play.  The Lady Lions return home on Thursday to take on Missouri Western at 5:30 p.m. in Hyland Arena.