Women's Basketball Knocks Off Lincoln 79-72 Behind 27 Points From Gabrielle Beggs for CCAC Conference Victory

LINCOLN, Ill. – The Roosevelt University women's basketball team defeated Lincoln College by the score of 79-72 on Saturday, December at the Lincoln Center for its second straight CCAC Conference win.  The victory evened the Lakers conference record at 4-4 and raised their overall record to 5-7 on the year.

The Lakers took control of the game early in the first quarter, opening a 9-2 lead on a three-pointer by Nicole Pool and then back-to-back threes from Amelia McNutt.  Late in the quarter, Roosevelt once again scored six straight points to up its lead to 22-10 with 1:54 to go with McNutt scoring four points and CeCe Pope adding a bucket.

Early in the second quarter, the Lakers led by 11 points, but the Lynx cut the margin to 28-21 just over a minute in.  RU pushed the lead back to 11 points behind a layup from Erionna Moore and two free throws by Gabrielle Beggs and later went on a 7-0 run to build a 41-25 advantage with 38 seconds left in the first half.  Lincoln came back to score six points in the final 34 seconds to close out the half with the visitors ahead 41-30.

The Lakers maintained their double-digit lead for the first half of the third quarter before the Lynx cut deficit to 48-39 at the halfway point and pull to within 48-43 with 4:17 remaining.  Beggs and Mallory Hawkins followed up with back-to-back layups to up the lead to 52-43 and the two combined in the final minutes to restore RU's double-digit lead at 56-45 with 1:03 to go.  However, a late Lynx three-pointer made it a 56-48 game heading into the final 10 minutes.

Roosevelt began the fourth quarter by opening a 62-49 lead on baskets by Jessica White and Beggs, along with two free throws from Pope.  The Lakers continued to hold their lead in the quarter, but the Lynx made a late push, cutting the lead down to 70-63 with 1:21 to go and again to seven points on two other occasions before pulling to within 76-72 with 20 seconds left on the clock.  Beggs then came through with three clutch free throws down the stretch to preserve the Lakers 79-72 conference victory.

GAME DETAILS

Score:   Roosevelt            24           17           15           23           79
                Lincoln                  14           16           18           24           72

Records: Roosevelt 5-7, 4-4 (CCAC) | Lincoln 1-8, 1-6 (CCAC)

Location: Lincoln Center | Lincoln, Ill.

KEY STATS

• Gabrielle Beggs scored a career-high 27 points coming off the bench
• CeCe Pope registered 15 points & eight rebounds
• Amelia McNutt added 13 points & four rebounds
• Nicole Poole tallied 10 points, six rebounds, & three steals
• The Lakers shot 44.4% from the field & 23.8% from three-point range
• Lincoln shot 36.9% overall & 24% from behind the arc
• RU's bench outscored LC's 37 to 15

NEWS & NOTES

• The Lakers are now 3-2 all-time versus the Lynx
• Click here to view the current CCAC Conference standings

NEXT UP

The Lakers host the University of Northwestern Ohio in a non-conference contest on Friday, December 17.  Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30pm at the Goodman Center in Chicago, Ill.