Box Score Kearney, Neb. – Senior guard Laramey Becker tied her career-high of 33 points to help Nebraska-Kearney defeat Lindenwood, 72-57, Saturday afternoon on the Buckle Court at the Health & Sports Center.
 
This was the Lopers (14-12, 10-10) final home game of the regular season. In addition to Becker (Trenton), UNK honored senior post Bri Starks (Hutchinson, Kans.).
 
Kearney is currently in sole possession of eighth place in the league standings, a half-game behind Missouri Southern State and a game ahead of Southwest Baptist. Teams five through eight will host an MIAA Tournament game on Monday, February 29th.
 
Today, UNK made its first three shots from the field but that's all that went right over the first 10 minutes. Lindenwood (7-19, 3-17) led 15-14 at the end of the quarter as they had a 17-7 edge on the glass with the Lopers going 4 of 8 at the line and missing 12 of its last 13 shots.
 
UNK quickly righted the ship, using a 24-11 second quarter to build a double digit lead. Becker, with three 30 point games in her career, had 17 points by the break.
 
Now riding a 15-game losing streak and falling to 1-12 on the road, the Lions never made a serious second half run. UNK, scoring 26 points off of 20 LWU turnovers, held at least a 14 point lead over the final 14 minutes.
 
"Laramey obviously had a great night. She shot the ball really well, defended really well. I think you saw the culmination of the all the hard work she's put in. For four years, she has committed herself to be a better player," said UNK head coach Carrie Hofstetter.
 
Averaging 16.8 points per game coming in, Becker was 12 of 19 (3 of 5 threes) from the field and 6 of 7 at the line. She tallied 33 in a home win over Southwest Minnesota State last season and had 31 this year at Lindenwood.
 
She joined sophomore post Imani Kyser (Madison, Ala.) and junior reserve post Kelsey Fitzgerald (Yankton, S.D.) as Lopers to grab seven rebounds. Lindewood had a plus four rebounding margin, 42-38, but UNK had three more second chance points, 14-11.
 
Next, Grand Island sophomore guard McKenzie Brown hit three triples to score 11 with Lincoln freshman reserve post Kennedy Sander providing nine points and four rebounds.
 
"We haven't talked about our record but we've talked about the conference tournament. We're trying to get that first round home game," said Hofstetter. "We've made some progress and are moving in the right direction."
 
Lindenwood was led by junior forward Kassidy Gengenbacher, who had 12 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.