STEPHENVILLE, Texas - Lindenwood women's basketball (23-10, 16-4 OVC) continues their first post-season run in their Division I history after defeating Tarleton State (22-11, 10-6 WAC) in the second round of the WNIT by a final score of 67-59. The Lions become the sixth team on Sunday to clinch a berth in the Super 16 of the WNIT.

"Our kids are so tough!" said head coach Amy Eagan after securing her 23rd win this season in just her second year at the helm. "I'm so proud of them. They are warriors and are willing to do anything to win! I love coaching them. We played great defense but gave up to many offensive rebounds. Our offense did a great job of sharing the basketball."

Gracie Kelsey had a career-day for the Lions posting her first career double-double after dropping 16 points and 10 rebounds. The sophomore center shot 4-8 from the floor and 8-9 at the foul line while grabbing five offensive rebounds. Tarleton State, a top 20 rebounding margin team in the country, was out-rebounded by the Lions 44-38 including 12 offensive rebounds.

Brooke Coffey was the second leading rebounder for the Lions grabbing eight boards while adding 11 points. Coffey shot 2-6 from the floor while also going 4-5 at the foul line. The Lions as a team shot 18-23 from the foul line while going 7-17 from three point range.

Ellie Brueggemann had three of Lindenwood's seven triples on her way to 11 points. Gracy Wernli also had three three-pointers for the Lions scoring nine points. Off the bench, the Lions' sixth man Mykayla Cunningham had nine points on 3-9 shooting while adding five rebounds and a block. Lindenwood assisted on 12 of their 21 made shots including three from Kelsey and Mya Skoff.

An all-around defensive effort from the Lions, Lindenwood held Tarleton State to 2-20 (10.0%) from three-point range. The Texans shot 35.2% from the floor for the game while Lindenwood shot 39.6% from the field. TSU had 44 points in the painted area while Lindenwood had 24. 

It was a defensive battle in the first quarter after the Lions shot just 4-15 from the field, but they held the early advantage through the first 10 minutes of action with a 14-13 lead. Kelsey had six points and five rebounds in the first quarter while Coffey grabbed another five rebounds. Tarleton State was held to 5-20 shooting including 1-6 from three.
 
The Texans put the pressure on Lindenwood going on a 4-0 run to start the second as they led 17-14 with 8:33 left in the quarter. Lindenwood was able to get their offense going after an and-one layup by Kelsey put the Lions ahead 22-20. The Lions ended the half on a 10-4 run heading into the locker room leading 29-24.
 
Kelsey had nine points and eight rebounds in the first half shooting 3-5 from the floor and 3-3 at the foul line. Brueggemann was the second leading scorer at the half scoring eight points including two threes. The Lions shot 31.3% from the floor in the first half while holding Tarleton State to 27.8% shooting including 1-11 from downtown.

Lindenwood's offense started to click in the third quarter scoring 22 points on 7-10 shooting from the field. After the Texans cut the lead to 32-30 with 8:46 left, the Lions went on a 5-0 run sparked by five straight points from Coffey. The Lions stretched their lead to 11 points with under three to play after Skoff added two of her seven points. Cunningham finished the quarter off with a driving layup as the Lions led 51-41 heading into the final quarter.

Tarleton State was able to cut the lead down to six points with 5:39 remaining in the fourth, but the Lions answered back with back-to-back buckets by Wernli and Kelsey to push the lead back out to 11 with 4:29 to go. After the Texans cut it to five with 1:23 left, the Lions made six straight free throws to ice the game as the Lions advance to the Super 16 of the WNIT.

Lindenwood awaits their opponent as they will play the winner of Louisiana Tech and Texas Southern later this week. Dates and times will be announced as the conclusion of the Louisiana Tech game on Monday, March 24th. For more information on Lindenwood women's basketball go to lindenwoodlions.com. For the full WNIT bracket go to womensnit.com.