LAWRENCE, Kan. - Lindenwood women's basketball (0-1, 0-0 OVC) fell on Wednesday to Big 12 opponent Kansas (1-0, 0-0 Big 12) in Allen Fieldhouse by a final score of 56-43. The Lions' offense struggled early in the first half scoring only 11 points, but rallied in the second scoring 32.

"Not happy with the end result, but saw a lot of great things we can build on," said head coach Amy Eagan. "Really proud of our defense and how we competed from start to finish."

Wednesday night basketball action saw the Lions held to 27.1% shooting from the field including 1-24 from three-point range. Lindenwood's best quarter of the night came in the third after the Lions shot 7-14 from the field.

Lindenwood's 2023-24 leading scorer Ellie Brueggemann picked up where she left off last season scoring a team-high 12 points in 30 minutes of action. Despite her struggles against the Jayhawks from three-point distance (1-14 3FG), Brueggemann found ways to score including going 5-5 from the foul line.

Brooke Coffey in her Lindenwood debut scored 10 points shooting 5-7 from the floor. The St. Charles, Mo. native played 28 minutes picking up five rebounds. Gracy Wernli also scored eight points in her first game as a Lion while adding two steals. Mykayla Cunningham chipped in seven points, two rebounds and two steals.

Kansas finished Wednesday evening shooting 43.1% from the field while knocking down six triples on 19 attempts. S'Mya Nichols scored a game-high 20 points while shooting 7-11 from the floor. Reagan Williams also added 11 points for the Jayhawks.

Lindenwood was only out-rebounded by one in Allen Fieldhouse (38-37), but the Lions hustled on the offensive end scooping up 15 offensive rebounds. The Lions scored 18 points off second chance opportunities compared to just eight by the Jayhawks. Lindenwood outscored Kansas in both the third and fourth periods.

Coffey got the scoring underway for the 2024-25 season in the first period with the first of her five field-goals. Lindenwood offense was kept in check in the first period shooting 2-13 from the field. The Jayhawks also struggled shooting 33.3% in the first while only leading by six (11-5).

Kansas pushed their lead to 18 points going into halftime after out-scoring the Lions 18-6 in the second period. No Lion had scored more than two points after the second quarter. Lindenwood was held to under 20.0% shooting in the first half and went 0-10 from deep.

Coffey opened up the Lindenwood offense in the third quarter as the Lions started off the third shooting 5-7 from the field. She scored eight of her 10 points in the third while going perfect from the floor (4-4). Lindenwood was active on the glass picking up five offensive rebounds and adding eight second chance points. Lions trailed 43-26 heading into the final quarter of play.

Lindenwood cut the Jayhawk's lead to as little as 12 in the fourth quarter but Kansas held on to defeat LU on opening night by a final score of 56-43. Brueggemann led the way in the fourth scoring eight points including the Lions' lone three pointer. Gracy Wernli also added four points. The Lions went 8-9 fro the charity stripe in the fourth as the outscored KU 17-13 in the final quarter of play.

Next Tuesday, Nov. 12th will see the Lions host Bradley at 6:00 p.m. CT inside Hyland Arena for the Lindenwood women's basketball home opener. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.