Women's water polo had a chance to tie the score late in the final period, but came up short in an 11-9 loss to McKendree Wednesday night in Lebanon, Illinois.

The Lady Lions were competitive through the whole contest and opened up a 3-2 lead by the end of the first quarter, but the Bearcats shutout Lindenwood while scoring three markers of their own in the second for a 5-3 advantage at halftime.  Both offenses clicked in the third with each team finding the back of the cage three times, but that left the Lady Lions still trailing by two with one quarter to go.  Lindenwood slowly chipped away in the final frame and with 1:23 remaining in the game, trailed 10-9 with possession of the ball, but the final shot attempt missed and McKendree countered with goal with 14 seconds left for the final margin.

Abby VerMeer powered both the offense and defense for the Lady Lions with four markers and five steals. Hanna Muller added three goals and a steal and Naomi Sanders and Madelynn Klein-Courville each scored once.  Noelle Redman had two assists while Emily Kini and Heather Rosson each had one.  Isabella Boccia helped the defense with two steals.  Betsy Zanocco made three saves in two quarters of play for Lindenwood and Dani Rust made five in the same amount of time.

The loss drops the Lady Lions to 0-6 on the young season.  They will try to turn things in the right direction at the first of two conference weekends in the Midwest Division February 3-4.  Lindenwood will play three games on Saturday beginning with a contest against Notre Dame at 12:20 p.m.  Illinois State will follow at 2:40 p.m. and Cincinnati will be next at 5 p.m.  The Lady Lions face Calvin College at 10:10 a.m. Sunday morning, followed by Grand Valley State at 12:30 p.m.  All five matches will be played at Hudsonville High School in Hudsonville, Michigan.