It has been a month since Pitt State faced off against Lincoln and Lindenwood on the road. This week the Blue Tigers and the Lions come to John Lance Arena to face the No. 5 team in the country. Lincoln comes to Pittsburg for a 5:30 p.m. game on Thursday (Jan. 12), while Lindenwood will arrive on Saturday (Jan.14) for a 1:30 p.m. game.

Ticket Specials

Through Thursday, fans can purchase a package for all eight home games in January and February for $70 for reserved seats or $50 for general admission. This package can be purchased in person or by calling the PSU ticket office at (620) 235-4796.

Scouting Lincoln

Lincoln (2-11, 1-5 MIAA) won its fist MIAA contest over Northeastern State in Jefferson City on Saturday with a 66-62 victory. The team's other win was over Stephens College. In addition to its previous loss to the Gorillas, Lincoln has also lost to MIAA teams Missouri Southern, Emporia State, Washburn and Central Oklahoma.

Azaria Nave and Hunter Yoakum are Lincoln's offensive threats. The duo averages

14.8 and 14.6 points per game respectively. Nave and Erica Gibbons both average over .450 from the floor, with Nave shooting .460 and Gibbons, .473. Gibbons pitches in 12.5 ppg and has 20 blocks on the season. Tyler Henderson-Brown grabs 6.3 rpg as the team's leading rebounder. Nave also dishes out 3.2 apg.

The Blue Tigers are shooting .390 (305-783) from the floor, while opponents are shooting just under that at .387 (325-839). The team records 63.5 points, 33.3 rebounds, 10.9 assists, 8.0 steals and 2.5 blocks per game.  

Scouting Lindenwood

Lindenwood's one conference win came the day after they played the Gorillas, an 86-80 win over Missouri Southern. Since then, the team has suffered losses to Washburn, Emporia State, Missouri-St. Louis, Northeastern State and Central Oklahoma. The Lions will play Missouri Southern on Thursday night in Joplin before coming to Pittsburg.

Kallie Bildner is Lindenwood's leading scorer and rebounder. She's averaging 14.8

points and tops the conference with 9.5 rebounds per game, including three 20-point

performances and three double-doubles. Her .559 (33-59) field goal clip is also an MIAA

best. Gabby Walker adds 11.2 ppg and CeCe Rapp adds 10.0, despite only playing in two

games. Lindsay Medlen dishes out 3.5 assists per game and Charisse Williams has five total

blocks this season.

The Lions outscore their opponents by seven points per game and are out-rebounding

their opponents by 12.8 rpg. Additionally, they're converting 71 points, 43 rebounds, 13

assists, 8.5 steals and 3.3 blocks per game.

Scouting Pittsburg State

Pittsburg State is the No. 5 team in the country with an 14-1 record overall and a 6-0 record in MIAA play. Last week the team earned road wins over Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri. The 14-1 record is the same as the 2011-12 team. That team started conference play 8-0. 

The team has won its games by an average of just over 21 points per game. The 61-point win over Rio-Piedras was the largest of the season, while the four-point win over Kearney was the closest. Pitt State scores 76.9 ppg, while holding opponents to 55.3 ppg.

The Gorillas are shooting .451 from the floor overall and .379 from three-point range. The Gorillas make an average of 9.9 threes a game, but are holding opponents to just 3.3 made threes a game. Pitt State is also outrebounding its opponents by 9.4 rpg. 

Mikaela Burgess leads the Gorillas with 16.7 ppg and was named the MIAA Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 21-27. She scored her 1,000th career point on December 1 against Nebraska-Kearney. She has hit 44 threes on the season, which leads the MIAA. 

Madison Northcutt, who most recently was named the MIAA Player of the Week, is second on the team with 11.5 ppg. She is the team's leading rebounder with 8.5 rpg. She is fourth in the MIAA for rebounding overall and third for offensive rebounds. She has recorded three double-doubles on the season.

Shelby Lopez also averages double figures with 10.1 ppg and has started each of the last six games. She has made 38 threes this season, which is  second in the MIAA. She recorded her fist 20-point game with 24 points at Northwestern Oklahoma. She made six threes in that game.  

Paige Lungwitz adds 9.3 ppg. She was named the MIAA Player of the Week for the week of November 30-December 4 after putting up a career-high 27 against UNK. Elena Flott also scored with 9.4 ppg and the second-leading rebounder with 5.8 rebounds per game before a medical condition has put her on the bench. She recorded the first double-double of her career with 15 points and 11 rebounds against UNK. 

Hadyn Herlocker chips in 7.6 ppg and leads the team with 6.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Her assists lead the MIAA, while her steals are fourth. Herlocker is also the team's third-leading recbounder with 4.7 rpg. She earned MIAA and HERO Sports National Player of the Week honors after putting up a double-double with 12 points and a school record 13 assists at Lincoln on December 10.

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 14-0 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 25 of the 30 meetings.

Pitt State has won each of the last three meetings by an average of 15.3 ppg. 

PSU vs. Lindenwood

Pitt State is a 6-0 all-time against the Lions. The Gorillas have won all MIAA meetings between the two teams, three times 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.

The biggest Gorilla win in the series was a 32-point, 84-52, win in the first meeting on Dec. 20, 1997. The closest game was an 80-79 Pitt State win in St. Charles on Jan. 4, 2014.

This year will be the first year the two teams will play each other twice in the season.

Records Check

Its time to start tracking some Gorillas in the record books. Junior Mikaela Burgess is moving up the all-time threes list. She passed Drew Roberts to move into second with 196 career threes. Burgess is averaging 2.9 made threes a game this season and would need 165 threes through the rest of this season and next for the school record. Jenni Miller holds the career record with 364. 

Hadyn Herlocker finished last season second on the single season assists list with 156, almost double from her previous two seasons combined. Herlocker now has 339 assists for her career, which is sixth on the all-time list. She will need 17 assists to pass Stacy Randolph for fifth on the all-time list. Current assistant coach Amanda Davied is the career record holder with 553.

1000 and Climbing

Mikaela Burgess is not only climbing up the career-three-point list, but also now scored 1000 career points. She hit that career milestone on December 1 against Nebraska-Kearney as she hit a layup with 4:07 left in the third quarter. 

Burgess currently has 1122 points, 283 her freshman year, 589 last season and 250 so far this season. Her 589 points last season were third only to Lizzy Jeronimus and Leslie Dudley, the two top scorers (men or women) in Pitt State history. 

Burgess is the 20th player in school history to score 1000 or more points in her career. She is currently No. 13 on the all-time scoring list. She needs five points to pass Terri Barto for 12th and nine to move ahead of current assistant coach Amanda Davied for 11th.