Lincoln Christian is 7-1 against Malcolm since February of 2015 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Lincoln Christian Crusaders will host the Malcolm Clippers at 6:00 p.m. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Lincoln Christian sitting on 35 straight victories dating back to last season and Malcolm on four.
Lincoln Christian is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Syracuse: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Lincoln Christian blew Syracuse out of the water with a 77-38 final score. The Crusaders have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 20 matches by 23 points or more this season.
Kena Ailes
| 02/20/25 vs Syracuse | 23 |
| 02/19/25 vs Ashland-Greenwood | 18 |
| 02/13/25 @ Lincoln Northwest | 15 |
It was another big night for Kena Ailes, who dropped a double-double with 23 points and ten rebounds. The game was her third in a row with at least 15 points. Mattea Kassebaum was another key player, en route to 17 points and six assists.
Fort Calhoun typically has all the answers at home, but on Thursday Malcolm proved too difficult a challenge. They came out on top against the Pioneers by a score of 46-35. That's two games straight that the Clippers have won by exactly 11 points.
Malcolm found their leader in freshman Payton Dolliver, who dropped a double-double with 24 points and 11 boards. That makes it three consecutive games in which Dolliver has scored at least a third of Malcolm's points. Another player making a difference was Merryl Paul, who posted ten points.
Lincoln Christian pushed their record up to 24-0 with the win, which was their 27th straight at home dating back to last season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 34.1 points. As for Malcolm, their victory bumped their record up to 15-10.
Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's contest: Lincoln Christian has been dynamite from deep this season, having nailed 34.4% of their threes per game. It's a different story for Malcolm, though, as they've only made 25.9% of their three-pointers this season. Given Lincoln Christian's sizable advantage in that area, Malcolm will need to find a way to close that gap.
Lincoln Christian came up short against Malcolm in their previous meeting back in February of 2023, falling 54-47. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Malcolm's Halle Dolliver, who dropped a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Now that Lincoln Christian knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
