(JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.) — The eighth-ranked Jennies erased an 11-point deficit in the second half to defeat Lincoln, 71-70 at Jason Gymnasium on Wednesday night. 

Senior forward Keuna Flax scored 35 points – a new career-high – after scoring just two points at Northwest Missouri last Saturday. Revonnia Howard collected her third double-double on the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

The Jennies fell behind early, 13-9, but fought to take a 17-15 lead with 10:47 in the first half, capped off by a jumper from Flax.

The Blue Tigers took the lead right back as Jennifer Rosado would hit a three, followed by a layup from Lizzie Nessling, giving Lincoln a 20-17 advantage with 9:58 in the first half.

UCM scored six unanswered points to re-claim the lead at 23-20, highlighted by a pair of layups from Howard.

Lincoln’s Hunter Yoakum hit a three with 3:57 on the clock, providing the Blue Tigers with a 29-28 lead. The Blue Tigers finished the first half on a 10-6 run to take a five-point lead into halftime. The Jennies shot just 39.4% (13-of-33) from the floor and missed five of 12 free throws (58.3%) in the first 20 minutes of play.

The Blue Tigers opened the game’s second half with a three from Hunter to go up by eight, but BreAnna Lewis would cancel it out on the ensuing possession with a three of her own to pull UCM to within 42-37.

UCM worked to cut the deficit to two at 43-41 after Howard sank a pair of free-throws with 16:30 left.

However Lincoln scored 10 of the next 11 points to take their largest lead of the game, 53-42 with 12:21 to play.

The Jennies got six of those points back thanks to a pair of layups from Flax and two free-throw makes from Breonna Embray with 9:55 remaining in the game.

Angela Randall converted on a layup to put Lincoln ahead by seven, 55-48, but Flax scored the next seven Jennies points to even the score at 55-55 with 7 and a half minutes to go.

Rosado sank a three-pointer on the next Lincoln possession to go up by three, but a layup by Flax and a free throw make from Howard tied the game at 58 apiece.

Flax gave UCM the lead for good, splitting a pair of free throws after drawing a foul from Kate Frazier with 5:23 left in the game.

With the Jennies up 69-67 with just over a minute remaining, Lincoln had an opportunity to tie the score, but UCM’s defense forced Rosado into an offensive foul with 47 seconds left. Shelby Winkelmann found Howard who finished with a layup on the next possession to put the Jennies ahead, 71-67.

With 33 seconds left, Rosado pulled Lincoln back to within one at 71-70 with a three-pointer.

Winkelmann turned the ball over on the next Jennies possession, but UCM closed the game on a strong defensive stand, forcing a turnover by Hunter with four seconds on the clock.

With the victory, the Jennies improve to 7-2 on the road – their best mark away from the Multipurpose Building since the 2004-05 season (started 8-1).

UCM improves to 3-0 in games decided by five points or less. They have won 18 of the past 19 games against Lincoln, dating back to Feb. 4, 1998.

The Jennies will return home to play Lindenwood on Saturday, Jan. 25 for a 1:30 p.m. tip-off.

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