McKendree University women's basketball concluded the home portion of its 2021-22 schedule here Wednesday evening by suffering a 73-58 setback to Lindenwood University in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at the Melvin Price Convocation Center.
The Bearcats slipped to 3-21 overall and 2-15 in the GLVC and they closed its 2021-22 home schedule with a 2-10 record, while Lindenwood improved to 10-14 overall and 7-10 in the league. The loss was the eighth consecutive for the Bearcats, which is its longest losing streak of the season.
Second-year freshman guard Clare Breden (Jerseyville, Ill./Jerseyville Community) led the way for the Bearcats with 19 points, including tallying 13 of those points in the second half, while redshirt senior guard Sydney Diekhoff (Pekin, Ill./Pekin Community) added a season-high 16 points. The 19-point game for Breden was her team-leading 16th double-digit scoring effort of the season.
With her 16 points, Diekhoff moved within nine points of tying for 10th place with Katie Hasheider on the school's all-time scoring chart as Hasheider scored 1,258 points as a Bearcat from 2003-07. In addition, she hit three treys to move into third place on the school's all-time list in 3-point field goals made with 171.
Lindenwood's win, which snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Lions, was aided by a 46-22 edge on the boards, including collecting 22 offensive boards that led to 20 second chance points. In addition to the strong edge on the boards, LU outscored the Bearcats, 25-10 in the third quarter to take 59-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Hennessey Handy paced Lindenwood with a game-high 21 points and added nine rebounds, while Mary McGrath had 10 points and six rebounds in the win. Three other Lions, Ellen McCorkle, Julia Ruzevich and Paige Craft each tallied nine points.
McKendree's defense held Ruzevich nearly 11 points under her season scoring average as she entered the game leading the league in scoring (19.8 ppg), rebounding (11.2 rpg) and double-doubles (13).
McKendree finished the game shooting 41.8 percent (23-for-55) from the field and 37.5 percent (6-for-18) from the 3-point line. The Bearcats also went 6-for-8 (75 percent) from the free throw line.
Meanwhile, Lindenwood shot 45 percent (27-for-60) from the field and 36 percent (8-for-22) at the 3-point line and was 11-for-18 (61.1 percent) from the free throw line.
McKendree finished with just 10 turnovers and collected 10 steals, including three steals from senior guard Jenna Krause (Seymour, Wis./Seymour). Lindenwood committed 16 turnovers that led to 15 points.
Lindenwood jumped in front 10-4 just three minutes into the contest, before the Bearcats scored six straight points capped by a lay-up from senior guard Madison Jones (Abingdon, Ill./Lincoln Land CC). The Lions, though, would close the quarter on 5-2 run to hold a 15-12 lead after the first 10 minutes of action.
The Lions would extend its first quarter lead to as much as 12 points at 31-19 following a basket by Handy with 3:38 left in the second quarter. McKendree, though, would close the half on 6-3 run to cut LU's lead to 34-26 at the half. The run began with a lay-up by Krause and capped by two Diekhoff free throws.
Lindenwood would open the third quarter on an 11-1 run to push its halftime lead to 45-27 following two free throws by McCorkle with 4:39 left in the third quarter.
Diekhoff would score five of the next 10 points to cut LU's lead to 48-34 with 3:23 left in the quarter. The Lions, though, would close the quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 59-36 lead heading into the final quarter.
McKendree won win the fourth quarter as they outscored the Lions, 22-16, including Breden scoring 13 of her team's 22 points. In the fourth quarter, McKendree shot 64 percent from field and 50 percent from the 3-point line, while LU shot 40 percent from both the field and 3-point line in the fourth quarter.
The Bearcats opened the fourth quarter on a 12-9 run to drop LU's lead to 68-48 following a lay-up from junior guard Kaelyn Froebe (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln). Nicole Hernandez would stop the Bearcat run with a trey at the 4:27 mark, before McKendree closed the game on a 10-2 run to cap the scoring. Diekhoff and Breden scored all 10 of those final points for the Bearcats.
Senior guard Haley Zylka (Oak Creek, Wis./Oak Creek) and Breden each pulled down four rebounds for the Bearcats.
The Bearcats will close the regular season with a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 26 in St. Louis, Mo., against 25th-ranked UMSL. The Tritons, who host Southern Indiana on Thursday, are currently sitting in first place in the league standing with a 20-3 overall record and a 16-2 mark in GLVC play.
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