ST. CHARLES, MO. - The Lindenwood women's basketball team will finally be back in Hyland Arena tomorrow night, when they will host the Cincinnati Bearcats at 7:00 p.m. for their first Division I home game in program history.
The Lions are coming off a close loss at Central Arkansas last Tuesday night, falling 43-55 in a hard fought matchup with the Sugar Bears.
Emily Benzschawel had another team-leading performance for the Lions, knocking down 18 total points while shooting 4-7 (.571) from behind the arc as well as a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. The senior guard also drained 5-11 of her field goal attempts, and added two assists, one steal and four defensive rebounds to her stat line.
Masyn McWilliams had the second highest number of points for a second week in a row, putting up nine total after shooting 4-7 field goals for a .571 total percentage. The graduate transfer also snatched up six defensive rebounds from the SugarBears and also had two assists and one steal.
Cincinnati is coming off a 71-74 overtime loss to Toldeo, which brings their record to 3-2 so far this season. The Bearcats have gotten wins over Wittenburg (91-45), Tennessee Tech (68-57) and Radford (62-53), and along with Toledo, have been beaten by Louisville (68-87).
Leading the Bearcats is senior Mya Jackson, who has been averaging 16.3 points per game and 4.0 assists per game, making her a key cog in the Cincinnati offense. The Wilmington, Ohio native also averages 39 minutes a game to lead her team in that category as well.
Jillian Hayes has been the Bearcats' strongest on the board, averaging 7.5 rebounds per game to put her atop Cincinnati's leaderboard. Hayes also leads the way in most steal's per game (1.3) and blocks per game (1.5), making her quite the versatile defender.
This game marks the first ever matchup between the Lions and the Bearcats. This will also be a historic day in Hyland Arena for the women's basketball program, finally playing their first Division I game on their home court.
For more information regarding tomorrow's game, make sure to check out 2022-23 Women's Basketball Schedule - Lindenwood University Athletics (lindenwoodlions.com).
