MARTIN, Tenn. - Lindenwood women's basketball (15-7, 11-2 OVC) battled defensively to a 62-59 victory over UT Martin (9-15, 6-7 OVC) on Thursday in Martin, Tenn. The Lions have won nine out of their last 10 games including six in a row, and have won back-to-back games after scoring below 65 points.

"Proud of our kids!" said head coach Amy Eagan. "We struggled offensively tonight but were really locked in on the defensive end. We also did a great job of rebounding tonight."

Brooke Coffey posted her fourth double-double of the season and second against UT Martin after scoring 16 points on 6-11 shooting while grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds. Coffey shot 3-6 from three-point range while adding a team-high five assists. She also had three of Lindenwood's four blocks.

Ellie Brueggemann tied Coffey for the lead in points with 16 of her own after shooting 6-14 from the field while going a perfect 3-3 at the foul line. Brueggemann would also add three rebounds and three assists. Lindenwood posted 15 assists on their 24 made field-goals.

Mya Skoff was the Lions' third leading scorer after posting 13 points including nine in the third quarter. Skoff shot 5-6 from the floor while adding another three rebounds. Lindenwood out-rebounded the Skyhawks 43-30 including 37 defensive rebounds.

It was a defensive battle in Martin, Tenn. including in the first half. Lindenwood finished the game shooting 24-55 from the field (43.6%) and 5-19 from three. UT Martin was held to 19-59 shooting (32.2%) from the field which marked their second lowest against an Ohio Valley Conference opponent this season.

Lindenwood out-scored the Skyhawks 32-22 in points in the paint while also adding 13 fast break points. UT Martin did turn Lindenwood over 18 times on Thursday resulting in 16 points. LU created nine turnovers while adding nine points off those.

It was a low-scoring affair in the first quarter as the Lions led 10-7 after the first 10 minutes of the ball game. Lindenwood jumped out to a 10-4 lead after back-to-back threes from Coffey with 6:03 remaining but it was scoreless the rest of the way. LU started 4-6 from the floor but ended the quarter shooting 0-9.

The first made shot by either team did not come until the 7:36 when Anaya Brown scored for UT Martin. The Skyhawks wound up with their first lead with just over two minutes to play in the first half at 17-16 but LU ended the quarter on a 6-1 run as they went into halftime leading 23-28.

Coffey was tied for the game-high at halftime with eight first half points and Brueggemann added six. Lindenwood shot 33.3% from the floor in the first half while UT Martin shot 16.0% from the floor. LU out-rebounded the Skyhawks 25-17 in the first half.

Going into the third quarter, Lindenwood held leads up seven, eight and nine points all through the first five minutes of the quarter before getting their first double-digit lead of the game after a free throw by Skoff with 5:01 left in the third. UTM got as close as two points, but LU took a four point lead into the final quarter at 43-39.

Lindenwood opened up on a 5-0 to start the quarter to go up 48-39, but UT Martin closed it back to three points with 7:03 remaining. It was a back-and-forth game the rest of the way, but Brueggemann made the play of the game with a block on one end and an and-one on the other with 1:32 remaining to put LU up seven points. Martin scored with one second left, but it was too late as the Lions were able to capture their 11th OVC victory of the season.

Up next for the Lions will be a match-up against Tennessee State on Saturday, Feb. 8th at 1:00 p.m. CT in Nashville, Tenn. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.