ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood women's basketball (3-1, 0-0 OVC) picked up their third straight home victory on Monday as the Lions outlasted the Aces of Evansville (2-2, 0-0 MVC) by a final score of 71-69 in overtime. This marks the first three-game win streak by Lindenwood since moving to Division I.

"I am really proud of our kids and they showed a lot of grit in overtime," said head coach Amy Eagan. "There talk amongst each out was really good in overtime. I thought they really dialed in defensively  and that is what we really needed to do at the end. We found a way and sometimes it is just about that."

Justis Odom and Gracy Wernli were the Lions leading scorers tonight as they both had 14 points. Odom registered her first double-double of the season after grabbing 10 rebounds including four on the offensive glass. Wernli shot 6-8 from the floor while also grabbing five rebounds.

Ellie Brueggemann scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds in the win. Brueggemann had a clutch free-throw with 11 seconds left to extend the lead to two points. Mya Skoff off the bench also had 13 points on 4-7 shooting including three threes.

There was a combined 48 turnovers in the game with 27 of them coming from the Aces. Lindenwood and Evansville both scored 17 points off turnovers on Monday while the Lions added 12 off second chance opportunities. LU's bench also outscored Evansville's 18-2.

Lindenwood had 14 assists against Evansville including a season-high eight from Mykayla Cunningham. Cunningham was one of three Lions to have two steals in the game. Odom defensively also had two steals and a team-high two blocks.

Lindenwood opened up the first quarter leading 9-5. Despite shooting 2-7 from the floor through the first five minutes, the Lions were 4-4 from the foul line. Lindenwood forced Evansville into four early turnovers in which they scored five points off of.
 
The Lions would lead 17-13 after the first quarter. Odom and Wernli led with four points each after one. Lindenwood was a perfect 6-6 from the foul line. Evansville was 5-13 from the field in te first 10 minutes including shooting 2-8 from three.
 
The second quarter started tightly contested with the Lions clinging to a six points lead with 4:28 remaining in the period. The Lions started the second quarter shooting 5-7 from the field including five points from Wernli.
 
Heading into the locker room, Lindenwood went on a 11-4 run to take a 40-27 lead. Odom finished the half with right points while Wernli added nine points and four rebounds. Off the bench, Skoff added eight early points while shooting 3-5 from the field. Evansville knocked down two of three foul shots with one second left in the period after a foul by Cunningham. LU scored 22 of their 40 points in the paint.

Evansville crept back into the game in the third quarter outscoring the Lions 25-15. Lindenwood's lead was cut the three heading into the fourth. UE shot 10-15 from the field including three triples. Lindenwood was held to 40.0% shooting in the quarter.

The Aces never took the lead in the fourth quarter but were able to hold the Lions to 21.4% shooting in the period to force overtime. Tamesha Dozier put back an offensive rebound to tie the game with 19 seconds remaining. The fourth was a defensive battle with UE outscoring the Lions 10-7.

Both teams would start the overtime period with a missed shot and a turnover. The first basket came from Julia Palomo with 3:30 left as the Aces took the lead 64-62. The Lions responded on the next possession with a huge three by Skoff to put LU in front by one.

Evansville would make one final push with a and-one play by Palomo with 56 second remaining to put the Aces ahead 69-68. Brooke Coffey would get an offensive rebound with 43 seconds left and put in the layup to regain the lead. With 11 seconds left Brueggemann went 1-2 at the line to put Lindenwood in the lead by two 71-69. Evansville would put up one final shot but it was no good resulting in the Lions third straight win.

Lindenwood will return to action this Friday as they take on Kansas City on the road at 7:00 p.m. CT. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.