Senators sneak past Lady Railers
48-43
[January 12, 2026]
The Springfield Senators used a strong third quarter to
overtake the lead from Lincoln on Saturday afternoon and they held
on the rest of the game to sneak out of Roy S. Anderson with a 48-43
Central State Eight Conference win over the Lady Railers.
Mia Clark led Lincoln with 20 points.
Abigail Malit led the Senators with 15 points.
First quarter
The Lady Railers started out strong versus the Springfield Senators
with Lily Holmes scoring the opening basket in the lane and then
Holmes, Mia Clark and Grace Bivin combined for a perfect 6-for-6
from the free throw line to give Lincoln an early 8-3 lead. Lincoln
remained on top 12-8 after a three from Clark. With Holmes sinking
two more free throws ahead of the one minute mark, Lincoln was in
front 14-10. Bivin scored a bucket with 18.5 seconds left in the
quarter and the Lincoln lead was 16-13.
Second quarter
Forty-five seconds into the second quarter Mesa McCloud hit a three
and Lincoln was building on that lead. After Grace Schneider scored
on the inbounds play near the 4:05 mark the Lady Railers were up
22-15. About a minute later Clark went backdoor and received a great
pass from Paisley Holmes for two more points and Lincoln was looking
sharp with a 24-16 lead.
But the Senators came back in the final three minutes to outscore
Lincoln 8-2 thanks to 3s from Abigail Malit and Morgan Leininger and
a two-point field goal from Aniyah Rhinehouse. Schneider’s free
throws were sandwiched in the middle of the Senator’s scoring and
Lincoln found themselves clinging to a 26-24 lead at the half.
At the half several Lady Railer alumni were introduced to fans and
recognized at half court.
Third quarter
It took just over ninety seconds but the Senators tied the game on a
bucket by Malit to start the scoring in the third quarter. Malit
followed that with a go-ahead three thirty seconds later. Clark took
less than twenty more seconds to tie the game with a three of her
own. A minute later Malit broke that tie with a basket in the lane
and the Senators were up 31-29 and they were not about to lose
momentum. Malit increased the lead with another field goal and the
5’7 sophomore had taken over the game for the Senators, pouring in
nine points in the quarter.
Rhinehouse and Leininger each added a bucket down the stretch and
with Lincoln just getting a single free throw from Schneider, the
Senators had taken over the lead 38-30 when the quarter ended.
Lincoln scored four total points in the quarter.
Lincoln head coach Cory Farmer talks to his team
before the fourth quarter. Photo by Teena Lowery
Fourth quarter
Lincoln tried to regroup in the fourth quarter but ran out of time
to take the lead. Plus Malit was on a roll for the Senators. She
sank a three to start the scoring and the Senators were up by
double-digits. Despite five points by Clark and a layup by Lily
Holmes, the closest the Lady Railers got in this stretch was 43-38
with 2:25 left to play.
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The Lincoln Lady
Railers alumni showed up to support the current Lady Railers on
Saturday, January 10, 2026. Photo by Teena Lowery
The Lincoln Lady
Railers alumni showed up to support the current Lady Railers on
Saturday, January 10, 2026. Photo by Teena Lowery
Lincoln then fell short on a few scoring opportunities. All those
missed layups in the first half were also coming back to haunt them.
Clark did score two points with 10.2 seconds left and then she
drained a three with 2.5 seconds remaining but when the clock ran
out, the Senators were 48-43 winners.
Lincoln’s record falls to 12-6 on the season. The Lady Railers are
3-2 in the Central State Eight Conference.
Springfield improved to 10-8 overall. The Senators are 3-1 in the
Central State Eight Conference.
Lincoln won the JV game 33-28.
Emma Hutchison led the Lincoln JV team with 13 points and Sage
Gilbert tossed in 11 points.
Lincoln will play at Taylorville Tuesday night. The JV will start at
5:30 p.m. The Varsity will tip-off at 7:00 p.m.
Varsity scoring
Lincoln 43
Clark 20
L. Holmes 8
Schneider 6
McCloud 4
Bivin 4
P. Holmes 1
Springfield 48
Malit 15
Rhinehouse 11
Leininger 9
Harris 5
Scheffler 5
Luhtala 3
JV scoring
Lincoln 33
Hutchison 13
Gilbert 11
Short 4
Schneider 3
Chen 2
Springfield 28
Kelly 12
Hoffman 6
Foster 5
Leininger 3
Cook 2
[Teena Lowery]
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