The Lindenwood women's basketball team will advance to the second round of the MIAA Tournament after an 85-68 win over Nebraska-Kearney on Tuesday night in Kearney, Neb.
 
Lindenwood earned its first ever MIAA Tournament win on Tuesday after defeating the Lopers for the first time in program history.  MIAA Freshman of the Year, Kallie Bildner, had yet another double-double with her 16 points and 11 rebounds while she was 2-for-2 from behind the arc.  Lindsay Medlen had one of the biggest games of her career as she dropped 23 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out five assists, and tallied one steal.  Gabby Walker and Alex Haley each had 10 points while Sara Ross grabbed 15 boards.  The Lady Lions shot 48.3 percent from the field and made 6-of-11 from three-point range while outrebounding the Lopers 47-26.
 
Haley opened the game with a three-pointer and the Lopers responded with a three-ball of their own to tie the game at 3-3 in the first 35 seconds of the game.  Nebraska-Kearney hit another three-pointer only to see Bildner knocked down a three-pointer as the two squads had no hesitation in throwing up the long-range shot.  The Lopers took a 14-10 lead at the halfway point of the first quarter as the Lady Lions had already turned the ball over four times.  Ross put the Lions down by six and Medlen hit two free throws to cut the deficit to 18-15.  Medlen made a slick play in the final seconds of the quarter to lead to a layup and a 20-19 advantage for the Lopers after 10 minutes of play.
 
Nebraska-Kearney built its lead to 27-19 after attacking the rim to open the second frame.  Megan Foster and Bildner threw up back-to-back three-pointers to pull the Lady Lions within two points with 7:45 to go in the first half.  Ross tied the game at 27-27 and Hannah Reller made a tough bucket in the paint to give Lindenwood the lead.  Reller scored on another layup on the next trip to put the Lady Lions ahead 31-28.
 
Lindenwood struggled at the charity stripe, but continued to attack the paint as Gabby Walker and Medlen helped extend the lead to 38-30 with 2:45 to go in the second quarter.  The Lopers put together a 5-0 run to pull within three points after the Lady Lions struggled on the offensive end.  Nebraska-Kearney threw up a contested jumper in the final seconds, but Medlen was able to get the ball and drained a half-court shot at the buzzer to give Lindenwood a 41-35 lead at the break.
 
The Lady Lions outrebounded the Lopers 24-14 in the first half and made a stellar 5-of-7 three-pointers to flip the script from the first meeting.  Lindenwood struggled from the free-throw line by making just 6-of-11 while the Lopers were 6-for-9 from the charity stripe.  Medlen compiled 11 points in the first 20 minutes as Bildner had seven points and seven rebounds.
 
Nebraska-Kearney came out of the break with an edge to its game as the Lopers scored five-straight points to make it a one-point game.  Lindenwood put the lead back to three-points before Bildner made a key layup and added the free-throw to extend the advantage to 46-40 with 6:50 to go in the third frame.  The Lopers used the three-ball to climb back within a possession and regained the lead on a mid-range jumper.
 
Bildner put a stop to the moment swing with a jumper of her own and Walker put together a strong three-point-play to put Lindenwood ahead 51-47.  Medlen nailed her second three-pointer of the game with 2:19 to go in the third frame, but the Lopers would not go away and stayed within striking distance.  Nebraska-Kearney pulled all the way back to tie the game 58-58 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Both teams traded buckets in the early going of the fourth quarter until Lindenwood went ahead 67-64 with 6:26 to go in regulation.  The Lady Lions continued their run as Haley picked up to key jumpers to put Lindenwood ahead 75-64 to force another timeout by Nebraska-Kearney.  The Lopers cut the lead to eight points, but a steal and layup by Medlen put the Lady Lions back up by double-digits with two minutes to go in the game.  Lindenwood played stout defense for the remainder of the game and made the necessary free-throws down the stretch to close out an 85-68 victory in the first round of the MIAA Tournament.
 
Head Coach Tony Francis was ecstatic about the victory and was happy for the program, the school, and his players.
 
"This group continues to show their character and ability to improve on a daily basis," said Francis.  "They just made history for this program and I couldn't be more proud."  Francis ended, "Every player was a part of this win, a total team effort."
 
The Lady Lions will head to Kansas City, Mo. on Friday to take on No. 9 Pittsburg State at 6 p.m. in the Municipal Auditorium.  Brackets and ticket information can be found at TheMIAA.com.