ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood women's basketball (6-5, 2-0 OVC) overcomes 13-point halftime deficit to defeat Western Illinois (5-5, 0-2 OVC) by a final score of 63-59. Lindenwood shot 19-26 from the foul line in the second half to win their second straight Ohio Valley Conference game.

Ellie Brueggemann had her best game of the season after dropping 21-points against the Leathernecks. Brueggemann was a perfect 14-14 from the foul line and made six huge free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

Brooke Coffey was the Lions' second leading scorer after posting 13 points which marked her season-high. Coffey shot 4-8 from the floor including making two-three pointers. The St. Charles, Mo. native also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and adding two assists and two steals.

Lindenwood forced Western Illinois into 19 turnovers in the win creating 20 points off those turnovers. The Lions also scored 24 points in the paint compared to 22 by the Leathernecks. Rebounding was key for Lindenwood as they out-rebounded WIU 35-34 including a season-best 16 offensive rebounds.

Western Illinois shot 41.3% for the game compared to Lindenwood's 29.5% from the floor, but the Lions went 24-33 from the foul line including 19 of those in the second half. Brueggemann scored 19 of her 21 points in the final two quarters.

After trailing 4-2 early in the first half, Lindenwood responded with a 6-0 run of their own to take the 8-4 lead with 6:08 remaining. Western Illinois would end the quarter on a 8-2 run as WIU led 12-10 after one. The Lions were held to 3-13 shooting during the first quarter and 1-6 from three. Coffey and Gracy Wernli both had three in the quarter.

The Leathernecks started the second quarter on a 8-0 run as the Lions found themselves trailing 20-10 with 7:31 remaining in the half. Mallory McDermott for WIU hit a three-pointer with 46 seconds left to put Western up 31-18 at the half. Lindenwood shot 3-20 (15.0 FG%) in the second quarter as they trailed by 13 points.

Lindenwood started the half on a 13-7 run with just under five minutes to play in the third quarter. Brueggemann scored 11 of her 21 points in the third quarter and shot 3-5 from the field and 4-4 from the foul line. LU trail by six (46-40) at the end of the third while holding Western Illinois to 3-10 shooting. The Lions scored eight of their 22 points in the quarter from the foul line.

The offense kept clicking in the fourth quarter as the Lions started the quarter on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to one. Lindenwood took their first lead since early in the first quarter on a pair of foul shots from Brueggemann with 7:17 remaining (47-46). Wernli stretched the LU lead to five points with just under a minute to play after a turnover by the Leathernecks resulted in a driving layup. During the final 30 seconds of the game, Brueggemann went 6-6 at the line as she helped the Lions improve to 2-0 in conference play for the first time in program history.

Lindenwood will be back in action on Thursday, Jan. 2nd at Eastern Illinois. For more information on all things Lindenwood Women's Basketball go to lindenwoodlions.com.