ST. CHARLES, MO. - The Lindenwood women's basketball team secured their first victory of the season by defeating Hannibal-LaGrange 96-36 on Wednesday night in Hyland Arena.

"Getting the win feels great," said Head Coach Katie Falco. "Happy for our players, and love the contribution we got from everybody!" 

GAME OVERVIEW
The Lions ran up the score from the get go, putting on a show in a dominant 37-11 first quarter and shooting an impressive 13-15 (86.7%) from the floor to get there. From outside the arc, Lindenwood was able to hit 7-9 of their three point attempts and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line.

The second quarter consisted of 18 more Lion points and only 10 for the visiting Trojans. The defensive performance from the home team was equally as strong, grabbing 11 boards in the second to put their total number of rebounds at 18 as opposed to HLGU's eight going into halftime. 

Lindenwood's most dominant quarter of the night was the third, outscoring the Trojans 22-2 thanks to a full team effort both offensively and defensively. The Lions shot an impressive 64.3% from the floor, running up the score to 77-23 with ease. 

The fourth quarter resulted in 19 more points for the already-superior Lions, who saw buckets from every single girl in the game before the final whistle blew. Emily Benzschawel had another incredibly powerful performance off the bench, knocking down a team-leading 19 points, shooting 7-9 from the floor and 5-7 from outside the arc. The senior out of Monroe, Wisconsin also contributed three rebounds, two assists, one block and two steals during her 22 minutes played tonight. 

Right behind her on the leaderboard was graduate transfer Masyn McWilliams, who downed six of her eight field goal attempts, shooting a strong 75% from the floor and a perfect 2-2 on her three-point attempts. McWilliams also led the team in rebounds with seven total on the night while also adding a team-leading four assists and two steals to her stats.  

Mary McGrath recorded the highest efficiency tonight for the Lions (25.0) in her 13-point effort. The sophomore standout drained four of her five field goal attempts and hit all four of her free throws. McGrath had four rebounds, one assist and one steal as well, making for another well-rounded performance. 

GAME LEADERS
Emily Benzschawel - 19 P, 3 RB, 2 A, 1 B, 2 ST
Masyn McWilliams - 14 P, 7 RB, 4 A, 2 ST
Mary McGrath - 13 P, 4 RB, 1 A, 1 ST

UP NEXT
The Lions will head to Las Vegas for the Holiday Hoops Classic starting on December 19 against Cleveland State at 5:30 pm CST.