The Gorillas hit the road again for their second long road trip of 2016. The team will travel to St. Charles, Mo. after practice on Wednesday for a Thursday game at Lindenwood. Tip off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday the team travels to Jefferson, City, Mo. for a 1:30 p.m. meeting with Lincoln.

    Both Lindenwood and Lincoln are 7-10 on the season and 3-8 in MIAA play. The two teams are tied for 11th in the MIAA standings. Lincoln will play Missouri Southern on Thursday before the Gorillas come to town Saturday. 

    Pitt State is 13-4 overall and 7-4 in league play. The Gorillas are tied for fourth with Washburn, behind ranked teams, No. 5 Missouri Western, No. 3 Fort Hays State and No. 12 Emporia State.

Scouting Lindenwood

Lindenwood is 7-10 overall in the season and 3-8 in MIAA play. The Lady Lions are looking for their first victory of 2016.  The team dropped six of their last seven contests, five of which were within a 10-point margin. 

    Kassidy Gengenbacher scores 19.1 ppg and shoots .362 (50-138) from long range. The junior guard received MIAA Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week accolades in November. Senior guard Jenny Rocha pitches in 11.7 ppg and is shooting .451 (79-175) from the field. Vanessa Zailo, a senior forward, ranks second in the MIAA in rebounds, pulling down 9.1 rpg. Freshman guard Charisse Williams adds 9.9 ppg to the offensive effort.

    As a team, Lindenwood is .452 (445-985) from the field, .394 (88-252) from behind the arc, and .735 (238-324) from the foul line. The team also averages 71.5 ppg, 33.9 rpg, 12.8 apg, 9.4 spg and 3.1 bpg.

Scouting Lincoln

Lincoln ceased a six-game losing streak after defeating Central Missouri, 82-76. The victory improved the Blue Tigers' record to 7-10 overall and 3-8 in league play. The team will take on Missouri Southern on Thursday at Jefferson City before hosting Pittsburg State on Saturday.

    Zuri Hill is the team's offensive leader, scoring roughly 13.8 ppg while shooting .477 (83-174) from the field. The senior forward also pulls down 7.6 rpg. Not far behind is junior guard Hunter Yoakum, who averages 11.7 ppg and dishes out 2.1 apg. Senior guard Dorian Briggs averages 9.6 ppg and 2.4 apg, while junior guard Azaria Nave contributes 8.9 ppg and shoots .375 (12-32) from three point.

    The Blue Tigers are collectively shooting .362 (369-1019) from the field, .288 (92-319) from long range, and .761 (242-318) from the foul line. Additionally, the team averages 63.1 ppg, 38.5 rpg, 11.6 apg, 4.6 spg and 1.2 blocks per game.

Scouting Pittsburg State

The Gorillas are 13-4 overall and 7-4 in MIAA play after a convincing win over rival Missouri Southern on Jan. 17. Pitt State is currently tied for fourth in the MIAA standings behind Missouri Western, Fort Hays State and Emporia State. 

    PItt State averages 74.2 points per game, while allowing opponents 62.6 ppg. That average was brought down a whole point after the Gorilla defense held Missouri Southern to just 45 points on Saturday. The Gorillas shoot .429 from the floor overall and .344 from long range, hitting 7.3 threes per game. The team pulls down 37.1 rebounds per game, 2.7 more per game than their opponents. The team commits only 11.9 turnovers per game and has a 1.2 assists to turnover ratio.

    Mikaela Burgess continues to lead the Gorillas with 16.7 ppg. She is the team's top three-point shooter, having made 47-of-119 threes on the season for a .383 three-point shooting percentage. She hits almost three threes a game. She also leads the team in steals with 21. Cathy Brugman is the team's second leading scorer with 13.6 ppg after scoring a career-high 25 points against Southwest Baptist last week. Gafford adds 12.7 ppg to the PSU cause and is te team's leading rebounder with 5.8 rpg. She also leads the team with 28 blocks on the season. Hadyn Herlockers leads the team with 69 assists for 4.3 assists per game. She has only turned the ball over 17 times on the season. Her 4.1 assists/turnover ratio is the beat in the nation. She scores 6.4 ppg. Herlocker makes almost 40 percent of her shots from three-point range. Paige Lungwitz adds 5.8 ppg. Shelby Lopez and Paige Imhoff come off the bench to each contribute 5.1 and 4.9 ppg, respectively. 

    There is quite a difference in the team's play between wins and losses. In its wins, the Gorillas score 76.3 points. They commit only 10.6 turnovers per game in wins and outrebound opponents by 4.9 rpg. In losses, the Gorillas score only 67.5 ppg, are outrebounded by 4.2 and commit 16.0 turnovers per game. There is not a significant shooting percentage between wins and losses, proving that turnovers and rebounding are important keys for the Gorillas this season.

PSU vs. Lindenwood

Pitt State is a 4-0 all-time against the Lions. The Gorillas have won all MIAA meetings between the two teams, twice in St. Charles and once in PIttsburg. The only other time the two teams met was Dec. 20, 1997. Pitt State won the game 84-52 in Pittsburg.

PSU vs. Lincoln

Although LIncoln is a fairly new member of the MIAA, they are no strangers to the Gorillas, as the teams are former conference foes. Pitt State lost its first game ever to the Blue Tigers in the opening round of the 2012 MIAA Tournament, 83-77. Pitt State is 13-0 at home and 12-0 in Jefferson City, while holding a  2-1 record at neutral sites.

    The largest margin of victory in the series was 53 points in a 78-35 win in Pittsburg on Dec. 12, 1998. Pittsburg has won games agaisnt Lincoln by at least 10 points in 20 of the 22 meetings.

    Pitt State has won each of the last three meetings by an average of 13.7 ppg.

Gorillas in the MIAA

Pitt State is tied for fourth in the MIAA Standings with Washburn. Those twoschools are just behind Missouri Western, Fort Hays State and Emporia State.         The Gorillas are third in the MIAA in scoring offense and fourth in scoring margin. The team's .429 field goal percentage is fourth. It makes 7.3 threes per game, which ranks third. The Gorillas have the third-best assist/turnover ratio in the league with a 1.19. They have the third-best turnover margin, only turning the ball over 11.9 times a game, while forcing opponents into 15.4 turnovers a game. The team is second in blocked shots with 3.76 blocks per game.

    Several individuals rank high in the league in several statistical categories as well. Burgess is 6th with 16.7 ppg, while Brugman ranks 13th and Gafford, 15th. Gafford ranks 13th for rebounds with her 5.8 rpg. Brugman is 15th. Brugman is 9th for field goal percentage (.454), while Burgess is 12th (.410). Burgess is also third in three-point field goal percentage (.395) and first in threes per game (3.1). Lungwitz, Burgman and Burgess all rank in the top 10 for free throw percentage, while Gafford is 20th. Hadyn Herlocker is third in the MIAA with 4.3 assists per game. Herlocker leads the MIAA with her 4.1 assist/turnover ratio. Gafford's 28 blocks on the season are tied for first in the league.

She's Having a Block Party

Senior Kylie Gafford has been a significant presence down low for the Gorillas in her first three seasons. Her number of blocks has increased each season and with her team-leading 28 blocks on the season Gafford has 164 blocks for her career. She has passed Lauren Brown for second place and is 24 from surpassing the record of 187 set by Larissa Richards from 2008-2012.

Burgess for THREE!

Sophomore Mikaela Burgess leads the Gorillas with 47 threes on the season, an average of over three threes made per game. Last season she was second on the team with 52 threes made. She shoots .378from three for her career and is on pace to find her way into the record books for threes made this season.

Taking Care of the Rock

Junior point guard Hadyn Herlocker may not have seen a ton of court time prior to earning her starting spot this season, but the minutes she has played has made a significant impact, as she has done a superb job of taking care of the ball. Last season she dished out 65 assists with only 30 turnovers for a 2.2 assist/turnover ratio. With an even better performance this season, she is just over that for her career with 158 assists and only 64 turnovers for a 2.47 assist/turnover ratio. In the two games against Northwest Missouri and Northwestern  Oklahoma, she dished out 11 assists with no turnovers. This season she is at 4.1 with 69 assists and only 17 turnovers, a statistic which leads Division II.

Up Next

Pitt State returns home to close out January at John Lance Arena. The Gorillas will face No. 5 Missouri Western on Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 5:30 p.m., followed by a 1:30 p.m. game against Northwest Missouri on Saturday, January 30. Saturday will be a Black Tie Basketball Game for Make-A-Wish. Pitt State SAAC will be hosting a Wish Celebration for a special child. More details to come on the special event.