Women's Basketball | 3/10/2019 12:15:52 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Central Missouri entered the third quarter trailing by seven points. The Jennies only made nine of 34 shots in the first half.
Undaunted by a cold spell equal to the 2018-19 winter in Kansas City, the Jennies started the second half by feeding the ball inside to Skaggs. She scored three baskets in the first couple of minutes and helped Central Missouri close to 39-35.
“After halftime you can lay down or fight, and I knew all of us in the locker room were not going to lay down,” said Skaggs, who finished with 17 points. “It gave us the intensity and confidence we needed.”
Those baskets by Skaggs got Central Missouri in a nice offensive groove. The Jennies also increased their intensity on the defensive end. The combination helped Central Missouri go ahead 44-43 with 3:10 left in the third quarter on two free throws by Skaggs.
After Lindenwood went back ahead on two free throws by Lexi Moe, Central Missouri took complete control of the game. The Jennies took the lead for good at 47-45 on a three-pointer by Skaggs.
Central Missouri concluded the third quarter with a basket from Peyton Taylor off a pass from Morgan Fleming, who finished with 15 points. Central Missouri outscored Lindenwood 22-11 in the third quarter and took a 49-45 lead into the fourth.
The Jennies continued to play strong in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. A three-pointer by Redmond with 8:05 left increased the lead to 55-45.
Central Missouri even held a 60-49 lead, but saw Lindenwood fight back, closing to 62-57 with 2 minutes left. The Tigers closed to 62-59 with less than a minute left on a put-back basket by Kallie Bildner.
Two free throws by Fleming with 23 seconds left gave the Jennies a five-point cushion, which was big enough to secure the win.
Lindenwood took advantage of a long cold spell by Central Missouri in the second quarter and went into halftime with a 34-27 lead.
The Jennies appeared to be in control when they grabbed a 19-14 lead after a basket by Taylor from a pass from Redmond early in the second quarter.
Minutes went by before the Jennies scored again. Meanwhile, Lindenwood was knocking down shots. The Lions took a 21-19 lead on a field goal by Charisse Williams.
Lindenwood wasn’t done. Bildner and Williams added two more field goals to cap an 11-0 run that gave the Lions a 25-19 lead.
Redmond stopped the run with a basket, but Central Missouri continued to struggle on offense. Lindenwood built a 10-point lead at 31-21 on a three-point play by Sara Ross.
A three-pointer in the final second of the second quarter by Sydney Crockett prevented the Jennies from going into halftime facing a double-digit deficit.
“I thought it brought everybody up,” said Crockett, who scored 11 points. “We started moving the ball better and understanding what we needed to do to get everybody open shots.”