ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Lindenwood women's basketball (11-7, 7-2 OVC) continued their hot start to Ohio Valley Conference play after an 84-76 victory over Southeast Missouri State (4-14, 2-7 OVC). This win marks their 11th of the season, their most during a regular season since the 2021-22 season when they were still Division II.
Ellie Brueggemann led the Lions on Thursday after dropping 19 points and adding a pair of assists in the win. Brueggemann shot 60.0% from the field with all six made field-goals coming from behind the three-point line. Her six made threes marked the most in a single game for Brueggemann this season, and the most since she made seven vs. UT Martin last year.
Gracy Wernli tallied 17 points in Thursday's contest and added two assists of her own. Wernli shot 7-10 from the field and logged the second most time on the floor for the Lions with 32 minutes. She helped the Lions shoot 56.3% as a team from behind the arc after adding three threes of her own.
Justis Odom returned to the lineup after missing the previous game at Morehead State. Odom came off the bench for only the second time this season and added 12 points, four rebounds and three assists. Lindenwood assisted on 16 of their 29 made field-goals, led by Brooke Coffey with four.
Lindenwood shot 48.3% from the floor on Thursday helping them to their seventh OVC win of the season. The Lions' bench was a factor in the win out-scoring SEMO's bench 24-2 including Odom's 12 points and Mykayla Cunningham's six. SEMO finished the game shooting 44.1% from the field and 10-25 from deep.
It was a back-and-fourth contest in the first quarter with Lindenwood jumping out to an early 6-0 lead after back-to-back threes from Brueggemann and Wernli. Lindenwood was able to stretch their lead to as many as six in the first 10 minutes of the game, but SEMO found themselves trailing by only one after the first quarter. LU shot 4-5 from long range in the first.
Lindenwood took advantage on defense in the second quarter holding the Redhawks to 35.7% from the field. The Lions outscored the Redhawks 23-14 in the second quarter including a 5-0 run early on. Brueggemann had the hot hand for Lindenwood in the first half as she tallied 15 points, including nine in the second quarter. After 20 minutes of play, Lindenwood held the double-digit lead at 42-32.
Wernli got the third quarter scoring going after a 4-0 run, but the Redhawks would not go away picking up the defensive intensity. Lindenwood had their worst shooting quarter in the third behind held to 7-18 (38.9%) from the field. As the clock expired in the third, Lindenwood responded to SEMO with a 6-0 run as the led by nine heading into the fourth.
Odom helped the Lions in the fourth quarter as they went on a 5-0 lead and found themselves up 72-59. SEMO's offensive was effective in the final frame closing the gap to five points, but the Lions were able to close out the game at the foul line. Mya Skoff had two late free throws to seal the win. Skoff ended the night with 12 points going 8-10 at the foul line.
The Lions return to the court this Saturday, Jan. 25th when they take on the Trojans of Little Rock University. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CT. For more information, go to lindenwoodlions.com.
