KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Pittsburg State women's basketball team fell to ninth-seeded Lindenwood, 64-63 in the MIAA Tournament Quarterfinal round at Municipal Auditorium on Friday (March 3). The Gorillas will now await word on their NCAA Tournament bid. Selections will be announced on ncaa.com at 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
There were 14 ties and and 15 lead changes in the game. Pitt State took a four-point lead, 54-50, into the fourth quarter. Pitt State held on to the lead until back-to-back Lion lay ups gave them a 61-59 lead with 5:33 to go.
Shelby Lopez scored a layup on the other end for a 61-61 ties, the 13th of the game, with 4:40 remaining. Neither team scored for nearly three minutes until Lindenwood's Kallie Bildner hit two free throws with 1:58 left on the clock. A minute later, Paige Lungwitz knocked down a jumper from near the top of the lane to tie the game one final time.
The last minute was a flurry of action with turnovers and steals by both teams. A Pitt State foul with four seconds left put Jerrica Butler on the line. She made the second of her two free throws for a 64-63 Lindenwood lead. Pitt State quickly called a timeout to advance the ball to its half of the court. Lindenwood had only two fouls in the quarter, so quickly fouled each time the Gorillas threw the ball in, leaving Pitt State with only 1.1 seconds to get a shot off. Lungwitz took the final shot, but it rimmed out, giving the Lions the win.
Mikaela Burgess led the Gorillas with 16 points, 11 in the first half. Lopez and Lungwitz each added 12 points. Madison Northcutt finished the game with her 10th double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Pitt State shot just under 60 percent in the first half, but only 25 percent in the second half. Lindenwood was able to convert Pitt State's 15 turnovers into 21 points. The Gorillas had 10 steals, but only scored 17 off Lindenwood's 16 turnovers.
"I have to give a lot of credit to Lindenwood," Head Coach Lane Lord said. "They are a very physical team, and today they were definitely more physical than we were."
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