Parkland College – 66
Lincoln Land – 71
The #20 Lincoln Land women’s basketball team played host to MWAC rival and #7 ranked Parkland College Cobras and won a thrilling home contest 71-66. Both teams came into the contest with 16 victories each.
“This was a huge game on a national level” stated Logger coach Chad Jones.
The first period was a back and forth affair with teams seaming to match baskets the entire quarter. Parkland managed to hold a slight three point lead at the end of the quarter. Strong first half play of freshman Sam Lindhorst lead the Loggers. Lincoln Land turned up the defensive pressure in the second period and managed to hold Parkland to just seven points in the period.
Again, offensively, Sam Lindhorst provided strong play by aggressively getting to the basket and putting pressure on the Cobra defense. Lindhorst finished the half with a team high 15 points. Logger leading scorer Marley Smith had argueably the worst offensive performance of her career going 1-11 in the half. Despite this, Lincoln Land managed a slim three-point lead.
The second half was an absolute battle. The Loggers extended their lead behind strong play from Megan Harrell. Smith still struggled offensively, but dominated the boards, pulling down 9 in the second half. “Marley was frustrated tonight. But, when in counted, she made plays in other ways that were instrumental to us winning. She battled and showed some grit” said Jones. Sophomore Avrie Schmidt was battling the flu and struggled as well.
The Logger defense held Parkland to 14 in the third period and extended their lead. Parkland came alive in the final frame hitting three baskets from 3pt range in the period. Parkland would take the lead with approximately five minutes remaining in the game 62-60. The Loggers called a time out and proceeded to miss a shot. Parkland immediately scored in transition to take a four point lead. Lincoln Land would score six unanswered points. Parkland had a chance to tie the game with under a minute to go, but the Logger defense held strong. Lincoln Land would seal the game with free throws under ten seconds.
The Loggers escaped with a 71-66 victory. “Tonight was great. Mar struggled. Avrie was sick. Yet we rallied and stepped up. Both of those kids showed some guts tonight as did our whole team” said Jones.
Lincoln Land was lead in scoring by Megan Harrell with 21 points. Sam Lindhorst chipped in 17 and Avrie Schmidt scored 13. Marley Smith pulled down a team high 12 rebounds. Lincoln Land improves to 17-3 overall and 4-1 in the MWAC. The Loggers won’t have much time to get ready for another tough one as they play host to #12 ranked Lake Land on Wednesday.
