Lady Railers defeat Taylorville
46-37
[January 14, 2026]
The Lady Railers are back in the win column.
Lincoln picked up a 46-37 win at Taylorville on Tuesday evening.
Mia Clark led Lincoln with 13 points.
First quarter
The first five shots of the game were 3s, with Lincoln sinking four
of them. With Mesa McCloud and Mia Clark sharing the scoring early,
the Lady Railers were off to a 12-3 lead over the Tornados. After
Clark’s two free throws the first quarter score featured Lincoln on
top 14-9.
Second quarter
Grace Bivin, Grace Schneider and Clark each scored in the lane early
in the second quarter to drive the lead further, 20-9 the score.
Taylorville retaliated with two 3s but Lincoln had an answer. Emma
Hutchison entered the game and quickly drained two corner 3s. The
5’2 junior has been a consistent scorer for the JV team all season
long and she earned this time on the Varsity court in Taylorville.
She certainly made an immediate impact, keeping the Tornados at a
distance on the scoreboard and pushing Lincoln to a 26-15 lead. The
ladies were putting on a show from beyond the arc in the first half
as Taylorville sank one more three to finish their scoring. Grey
Gilbert’s short jumper allowed Lincoln a double-digit lead as the
two teams headed to the locker room with the Lady Railers up 28-18.
Third quarter
After Clark and McCloud opened the third quarter with back-to-back
3s, Lincoln commanded their biggest lead, 34-20. Bivin’s basket in
the lane would make the score 36-22. While the quarter did not
showcase a lot of scoring, the important thing was Lincoln stayed on
top 36-28.
Fourth quarter
The Tornados were able to cut the lead to five points with a three
to start the final quarter. However, the Lady Railers were able to
keep Taylorville from scoring for a long while after that bucket. In
addition, Lincoln managed to score a couple huge buckets in the
paint. Bivin had her hand in each one. The freshman fed Lily Holmes
a perfect pass under the basket at the 3:25 mark and the senior
banked it in. Seconds later Bivin was in the lane with three
defenders climbing and clawing all over her and she was able to pull
down an offensive rebound and put it back up strong for two points.
Lincoln needed that 40-31 lead because it wasn’t too long after that
the Tornados hit another three. The home team managed to trim the
lead to five points again but with 1:05 left to play it was Bivin to
the rescue in lane. She had another strong putback to give Lincoln
the 42-35 lead. Lincoln was in the driver’s seat the rest of the
way. Fouls were finally called and Lincoln got multiple
opportunities at the free throw line.
[to top of second column] |
Senior Mia Clark is averaging 14.5 PPG for the 2025-26 Lady Railers.
Photo by Cindy Bivin
Hutchison, filling in for Schneider at the free throw line, made
both shots. Holmes and Bivin each made one free throw as Lincoln
went on to win by a final score of 46-37.
Lincoln improves to 13-6 overall.
Lincoln also won the JV game 37-30 over Taylorville.
Sage Gilbert led the JV team with 13 points.
Taylor Short had herself a good game in Taylorville with 10 points
for the JV team.
Lincoln will host Mount Zion on Tuesday, January 20th. The JV will
start at 5:30 p.m. The Varsity will start at 7:00 p.m.
Varsity scoring
Lincoln 46
Clark 13
McCloud 9
Bivin 9
Hutchison 8
L. Holmes 3
G. Schneider 2
G. Gilbert 2
Taylorville 37
Jackson 11
Durbin 6
DeMichael 6
Thomas 5
Siempelkamp 5
Rogers 3
Wayman 1
JV scoring
Lincoln 37
S. Gilbert 13
Short 10
Hutchison 6
E. Schneider 4
Chen 4
Taylorville 30
Wayman 6
Suslee 6
Funderburk 6
Repscher 3
Heimsness 3
Corzine 2
Wiley 2
Durbin 2
[Teena Lowery] |
