Game #34
Lindenwood (23-10, 16-4 OVC)
at Louisiana Tech (17-15, 8-10 CUSA)
Match Information:
Date: Wednesday, Mar. 26th, 2025
Location: Ruston, La.
Venue: Thomas Assembly Center
Tip-Off: 6:30 p.m. CT
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Live Stats: Stats
ESPN+: Watch

Matchup
Lindenwood women's basketball has advanced to the Super 16 of the 2025 WNIT after defeating Tarleton State in Round Two last Sunday. The Lions are one of two teams still remaining in the field from the Ohio Valley Conference (Southern Indiana). This also marks the Lions' third game in six days as they look to advance to the Great 8 of the WNIT. This marks the first meeting between Louisiana Tech and Lindenwood.

Louisiana Tech enters Wednesday's game winning their first game of the WNIT against Texas Southern on Monday by a final score of 71-64. The Lady Techsters received a first round by in the tournament. La Tech hail from Conference USA after losing in the second round of their conference tournament.

The Lions won a defense battle in their second game of the WNIT after defeating Tarleton State by a final score of 67-59. Gracie Kelsey in her third career start had her first double-double after scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass. Tarleton State, a top-20 rebounding margin team in the country, was out-rebounded by the Lions 44-38. Brooke Coffey added 11 points and eight rebounds while Ellie Breuggemann and Gracy Wernli had three three-pointers each.

Eagan has transformed the Lindenwood Lions in just her second season as head coach posting a 23-10 record in year two. After going 7-21 during her first season in St. Charles, Eagan posted a +16 win improvement leading the Lions to an OVC Championship game appearance. She was named the OVC Coach of the Year becoming the third Lindenwood head coach to earn that honor during the 2024-25 academic year.

Louisiana Tech is coached by Brooke Stoeher who enters her ninth season at her alma mater. This marks her fourth trip to the WNIT since taking over at La Tech where she has a career record of 161-126 in Ruston, La.

Player to Watch
Gracie Kelsey took over the starting center role for the Lions after primarily coming off the bench for the Lions this season (four starts in 26 games played). After missing the majority of last season due to injury, Kelsey responded in her sophomore season ranking second on the team in rebounding averaging 4.9 a night while grabbing a team-high 50 offensive rebounds.

During the last round of the WNIT, Kelsey posted her first career double-double after posting 16 points and 10 rebounds at Tarleton State. An excellent free-throw shooter, She is currently 60-71 at the foul line including going 25-27 in her last five games. Kelsey also leads the team in field-goal percentage this season shooting 52.7% from the floor.

Tarleton State Recap - WNIT Second Round
Lindenwood continued their first post-season run in their Division I history after defeating Tarleton State in the second round of the WNIT by a final score of 67-59. The Lions became the sixth team on Sunday to clinch a berth in the Super 16 of the WNIT.

Kelsey had a career-day for the Lions posting her first career double-double after dropping 16 points and 10 rebounds. The sophomore center shot 4-8 from the floor and 8-9 at the foul line while grabbing five offensive rebounds. Tarleton State, a top 20 rebounding margin team in the country, was out-rebounded by the Lions 44-38 including 12 offensive rebounds.

Coffey was the second leading rebounder for the Lions grabbing eight boards while adding 11 points. Coffey shot 2-6 from the floor while also going 4-5 at the foul line. The Lions as a team shot 18-23 from the foul line while going 7-17 from three point range.

Brueggemann had three of Lindenwood's seven triples on her way to 11 points. Wernli also had three three-pointers for the Lions scoring nine points. Off the bench, the Lions' sixth man Mykayla Cunningham had nine points on 3-9 shooting while adding five rebounds and a block. Lindenwood assisted on 12 of their 21 made shots including three from Kelsey and Mya Skoff.

An all-around defensive effort from the Lions, Lindenwood held Tarleton State to 2-20 (10.0%) from three-point range. The Texans shot 35.2% from the floor for the game while Lindenwood shot 39.6% from the field. TSU had 44 points in the painted area while Lindenwood had 24. 

Scouting Louisiana Tech
The Lady Techsters finished 8-10 in CUSA play. On the season, Louisiana Tech is currently averaging 66.3 points per game while shooting 41.7% from the field, 30.1% from three-point range and 70.2% from the foul line. They are winners of three of their last four games with their lone loss coming in the CUSA tournament on March 14th against Liberty.

La Tech has four of their starters currently averaging double-figures led by Paris Bradley who has a team-high 14.0 points per game average. The freshman guard is shooting 45.2% from the floor and 31.8% from three while adding 3.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists. Jordan Marshall is also averaging 11.5 ppg and a team-high 8.6 rpg.

Head Coach: Amy Eagan
Eagan was named head coach of the Lindenwood women's basketball program on March 28, 2023.

In year one under Eagan, the Lions posted a 7-21 record. Lindenwood found itself in many close games, dropping eight contests by seven points or less. The black and gold led the OVC in turnover margin at +3.68. Ellie Brueggemann had an outstanding freshman campaign, averaging 13.8 points per game, which led to second team and all newcomer selections. Makayla Wallace set a new single season program record for steals with 72. She averaged 2.6 steals per game last season, tied for tops in the conference. It also ranked 24th nationally. 
 
Eagan arrives in St. Charles, Mo. after spending three seasons as the head coach of Drury University women's basketball.  Eagan completed her 14th season as a collegiate head coach, as she had stops at Truman State, Ashford, and St. Ambrose.
 
Eagan brings a career mark of 274-151 (.645) to Lindenwood, including four-straight seasons of 23 or more wins.  Eagan has led three schools to the NCAA Division II tournament for a total of five appearances, as well as one NAIA tournament appearance.  Eagan had claimed five conference titles in her 14 years, including three-straight.

Up Next
The winner of this game will move on to the Great 8 of the WNIT which starts on Saturday, March 29th through Monday, March 31st. Whoever advances will battle the winner between Abilene Christian and Illinois State. For more information on Lindenwood women's basketball go to lindenwoodlions.com. For the full WNIT bracket go to womensnit.com.