 This time, it was the Lady Lynx who were attempting to overcome a
halftime deficit. And this time, it was the Lady Lynx who came up
just short, losing 65-60.After trailing 32-21 at intermission, LC
rallied early in the second half, cutting the Millikin lead to
43-41. But, after a go-ahead 3-point attempt by Lady Lynx sophomore
forward Ally Friday clanged off the rim, Millikin responded with
eight unanswered points to stretch their lead back to 10 points.
The Lady Lynx never got another chance at a go-ahead or
game-tying shot.
"We got close, but then we had a stretch of back-to-back-to-back
turnovers, which pretty much set us back at that point," said LC
coach Carol Wilson.
For Wilson, one of the primary culprits in the loss was her
team's free-throw shooting. The Lady Lynx shot just 14 of 26 from
the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Millikin made 18 of 24 attempts.
"Our free-throw shooting has got to improve at some point," said
Wilson. "We had some real chances there. We had some two-shot fouls,
or missed the front end of one-and-ones. We just didn't capitalize
on those shots."
One bright spot for LC was the play of sophomore forward Taylor
Buliox, who finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Although Buliox
typically does her offensive damage in the trenches of the lane for
the Lady Lynx, in Monday night's second half, she displayed her soft
shooting touch, hitting multiple jump shots from beyond 15 feet to
help her team's comeback efforts.
"Taylor really played well in the second half," said Wilson. "In
the first half, she was a little tentative. But in the second half,
she stepped up for us and helped us get back in the game."
Friday and sophomore forward Erika Spiller added 10 points each
for LC, with Spiller also chipping in seven rebounds.
[to top of second column] |
The Lady Lynx now turn to conference play, with the first
Mid-West Athletic Conference game of the year set for Saturday
against Parkland at Jack Nutt Arena.
LC enters conference play with a 10-7 record, in a first half of
the season that has already seen its share of highs and lows.
On the bright side, recent strides have been made by Lady Lynx
freshmen Breanna Johnson and Shannon Hall. Three other freshmen --
Lincoln native Edraniel Tookes, Cassidy Jennings and Kerri Harris --
have started multiple games for the Lady Lynx already this season.
In addition to the contributions of a large sophomore class led by
Friday, Buliox and Spiller, Wilson has no shortage of depth on her
roster.
But, in order to contend for a conference title, LC will have to
curb their turnover issues and become more consistent, both
offensively and defensively.
Wilson is placing the burden on her sophomores to right the ship.
"It's up to our sophomores to show some leadership between now
and Saturday, to explain to these freshman what the level of
competition is in conference play," said Wilson. "Parkland is going
to come in here, and they'll know us better than we know ourselves
in some respects."
[By JUSTIN TIERNEY]
Lincoln
College women's basketball
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