Lindenwood Basketball Moves to Semifinals

The Lindenwood University women's basketball team calmly completed step one on Wednesday night.    

For the first time in a decade, the Lions won a postseason game knocking off Baker University 65-59 in the opening round of the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament at Robert F. Hyland Arena.    

Now that the Lions have kicked down the door, they will attempt to run through it all the way to the league title.    

Second-seeded Lindenwood (21-9) will meet third-seeded Avila (18-12) in a semifinal contest Friday at Lindenwood at 7p.m.    

Thanks to a major upset elsewhere in the tournament, Lindenwood, with a victory Friday, will host the HAAC championship game Monday at 7 p.m.    

The Lions had lost nine successive first-round HAAC Tournament games prior to Wednesday. Their last postseason win came in 2001.    

With the big hurdle out of the way, first-year coach Tony Francis and his squad can concentrate on what could be one of the biggest turnarounds in league history. Lindenwood went 9-22 last season and compiled a dismal 7-13 league mark, good for seventh place.    

This time around, the new and improved Lions finished second in conference play and are in line to make history with wins Friday and Monday.    

Sophomore Morgan Harrington led the charge Wednesday with 21 points. The Belleville, Illinois native hit 11 of 12 free throws. Senior guard Abby Schultenhenrich, from Duchesne High, added 10 points and six assists. St. Dominic grad Sarah Schnieders chipped in with nine points. Six-foot senior Kelly Albers had eight points and a team-high seven rebounds.   

Lindenwood struggled in the first half against seventh-seeded Baker (15-16) and trailed 20-19 at the break. But the Lions came roaring out of the gate in the second half scoring nine unanswered points to take control 28-20.   

Christina Edwards hit a short jumper to start the run. Harrington added two foul shots and Schnieders followed with a key 3-pointer. Albers scored on a layup to cap the blitz, which took 3:55 to complete.   

Lindenwood pushed the lead to 54-39 on a layup by Harrington late in the half. Baker made a run but could get no closer than to within five points.   

Eighth-seeded Graceland upset top-seeded Evangel 57-52 in a first-round play shocker on Wednesday. That leaves the Lions as the highest seed remaining, which would allow them to host the championship game should they beat Avila on Friday.