Game #33
Lindenwood (22-10, 16-4 OVC)
at Tarleton State (20-13, 10-6 WAC)
Match Information:
Date: Sunday, Mar. 23rd, 2025
Location: Stephenville, Texas
Venue: Wisdom Gym
Tip-Off: 2:00 p.m. CT
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Live Stats: Stats
ESPN+: Watch

Matchup
Lindenwood women's basketball continues their post-season journey in the second round of the WNIT as they take on Tarleton State University on Sunday, March 23rd at 2:00 p.m. CT. The Lions enter the weekend's match-up with 22 wins, their most in program history in the NCAA era (2012-present). This marks the first meeting between the two schools as Lindenwood travels to Stephenville, Texas.

Tarleton State and Lindenwood share just one common opponent in Nebraska as the Texans loss in Lincoln by a final score of 63-50. Lindenwood also lost on the road to the Corn Huskers by a score of 69-48 with LU holding a halftime lead of 30-27. The Texans hail from the Western Athletic Conference losing in the second round of their conference tournament to UT Arlington by a score of 66-55.

Lindenwood is coming off their first post-season victory on Thursday at home during the first round of the WNIT against Tulsa by a final score of 76-60. The Lions' used a big first half (27 first quarter points) to claim victory over the Golden Hurricane. Five Lions scored in double-figures including Brooke Coffey who had a team-high 13 points. Ellie Brueggemann and Gracy Wernli, both Oklahoma natives, also had 12 points each in the win.

Eagan has transformed the Lindenwood Lions in just her second season as head coach posting a 22-10 record in year two. After going 7-21 during her first season in St. Charles, Eagan posted a +15 win improvement leading the Lions to an OVC Championship game appearance. She was named the OVC Coach of the Year becoming the third Lindenwood head coach to earn that honor during the 2024-25 academic year.

Tarleton State is coached by Bill Brock who is in year two at the helm of the Texans. Brock led Tarleton State to 20 wins after posting 11 in his first season. Coming into Sunday's game, the Texans have a 13-2 home record while Lindenwood is 7-7 on the road.

Player to Watch
Do-it-all point guard Mykayla Cunningham has put together a nice season during the 2024-25 campaign. The Salina, Kan. native is averaging 7.5 points per game this season while dishing out 3.2 assists per night. She has scored at least seven points and had three assists in the same game 13 times this season. Against Tulsa, Cunningham scored 10 points while dishing out eight assists and grabbed three steals.

In her last two games, Cunningham has dished out 15 assists for an average of 7.5 per game. She ranks second on the team in minutes played averaging 28.9 per game. LU does not have a player in the top 20 in the OVC in minutes played per game. Cunningham's 102 assists this season are a Lindenwood Division I record and the most in a single season since Gracie Neff had 103 during the 2021-22 season.

Tulsa Recap - WNIT First Round
Lindenwood earned their first post-season victory since reclassifying to Division I after defeating Tulsa in the first round of the WNIT by a final score of 76-60. The Lions' 22 wins are now the most in program history during the NCAA era as the advance to round two on Sunday.

In a Oklahoma reunion during Lindenwood's first ever victory over the Golden Hurricane, the trio of Wernli, Brueggemann and Alyssa Nielsen put on a show in front of the fans of Hyland Arena. All three Lions are natives of Oklahoma and all provided an impact for Lindenwood.

LU had five double-digit scorers in the win including 12 from Wernli and Brueggemann. Wernli shot 4-6 from the floor including two threes while adding three rebounds and two steals. Brueggemann also had 12 points in the win while shooting 4-6 from the floor, connecting on three threes. She also added a team-high five rebounds while dishing out three assists.

Coffey was the Lions' leading scorer on Thursday dropping 13 points on 6-15 shooting while grabbing five boards. Cunningham put on a show for Hyland Arena scoring 10 points while dishing out a season-high eight assists. The sophomore guard played 28 minutes off the bench shooting 5-12 from the floor. LU assisted on 16 of their 27 made field-goals.

Gracie Kelsey in her first start since late January, also scored in double figures adding 12 points and five rebounds while going a perfect 6-6 at the foul line. Nielsen off the bench scored nine points in the win including two threes. Lindenwood's bench out-scored Tulsa 21-11.

Lindenwood shot 43.5% from the floor on Thursday while going 9-21 (42.9%) from three and 13-15 (86.7%) from the foul line. The Golden Hurricane were held to 35.2% shooting for the game including 5-27 from deep. Rebounding was even for both teams at 34. Lindenwood's defense also forced 18 turnovers leading to 17 points.

Scouting Tarleton State
Tarleton State hails from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in which they went 10-6 in conference play while going 13-2 inside of Wisdom Gym. A defensive minded team, the Texans only score 64.0 points per game but hold their opponents to an average of 58.2 ppg. Opponents are shooting just 38.5% from the floor against Tarleton State.

Arieona Rosborough is the Texans' leading scorer averaging 12.2 points per game while shooting 41.9% from the floor. Rosborough has started all 33 games this season averaging 5.9 rebounds per game and 3.1 assists per night. Jakoriah Long also averages 10.3 pg while shooting 40.8% from three.

Head Coach: Amy Eagan
Eagan was named head coach of the Lindenwood women's basketball program on March 28, 2023.

In year one under Eagan, the Lions posted a 7-21 record. Lindenwood found itself in many close games, dropping eight contests by seven points or less. The black and gold led the OVC in turnover margin at +3.68. Ellie Brueggemann had an outstanding freshman campaign, averaging 13.8 points per game, which led to second team and all newcomer selections. Makayla Wallace set a new single season program record for steals with 72. She averaged 2.6 steals per game last season, tied for tops in the conference. It also ranked 24th nationally. 
 
Eagan arrives in St. Charles, Mo. after spending three seasons as the head coach of Drury University women's basketball.  Eagan completed her 14th season as a collegiate head coach, as she had stops at Truman State, Ashford, and St. Ambrose.
 
Eagan brings a career mark of 274-151 (.645) to Lindenwood, including four-straight seasons of 23 or more wins.  Eagan has led three schools to the NCAA Division II tournament for a total of five appearances, as well as one NAIA tournament appearance.  Eagan had claimed five conference titles in her 14 years, including three-straight.

Up Next
The winner of this game is heading to the Super 16 starting on March 26th and will play the winner of Louisiana Tech and Texas Southern. For more information on Lindenwood women's basketball go to lindenwoodlions.com. For the full WNIT bracket go to womensnit.com.