Katie Bunge

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- In recent seasons, the Lady Miners have never had an easy time of it when playing against Lincoln – and for a time Thursday night, the game in Jason Gymnasium was taking a similar pattern.

But the Lady Miners were able to use their depth and stronger inside game to wear down the Blue Tigers and came away with a 75-58 victory over their regional rivals to the north.

The Lady Miners saw Lincoln cut a 13-point halftime lead down to eight in the first two minutes of the second half, but regained the upper hand on matters moments later. A putback by Katie Bunge, followed by a steal and layup by Tamara McCaskill gave UMR a 43-32 lead by the 16:41 mark.

UMR got its biggest lead of the game with 10:19 left on a Lauren Dubbert jumper in the lane to give it a 53-36 lead. The closest Lincoln would get after that was 13.

The Lady Miners led for the bulk of the first half and built its lead to 10 by the 10:04 mark on the second of back-to-back three-point baskets by Dubbert. The Lady Miners eventually built their lead to 15 in the final minute of the half before taking a 36-23 lead to the locker room.

McCaskill led the Lady Miners with 18 points, while Bunge finished with 15 and Katie McElrath had 10. UMR shot 50 percent in the second half -- finishing at 47.3 percent overall -- and outrebounded the Blue Tigers 33-30.

Jasmine Washington led Lincoln with 17 points.

UMR (4-1) will return to action Dec. 19 when it faces Texas A&M International in San Antonio.