COLUMBIA, Ky. – The Lindsey Wilson women's basketball team battled back from a double-digit, second-half deficit to come from behind and defeat Marian (Ind.) 69-66 on Saturday night at Biggers Sports Center.

The victory proved to be a memorable night for Chanel Roberts in multiple ways. The junior forward not only scored nine of the Blue Raiders' final 11 points to seal the comeback, but she also collected her 1,000th career point, becoming just the 10th Blue Raider in program history to do so.

After just four points in the opening 20 minutes, Roberts poured in 13 in the second half to finish with 17 on the night, scoring nine alone in the final 2:15 of the game as she came through with clutch shots again and again.

Marian (8-3) led from the 6:22 mark of the first quarter, all the way to the 2:55 mark of the fourth quarter before the Blue Raiders (8-2) finally erased an 11-point deficit to retake the lead for the first time in over 33 minutes of game action.

The victory avenges an earlier loss that the Blue Raiders suffered at the hands of Marian, 98-62, in Indianapolis back on Nov. 5.

Lindsey Wilson started the game fast and quickly built a 7-3 lead, but Marian answered with a 6-0 run to take a 9-7 lead. The Blue Raiders tied things up at 9-9 and again at 11-11, but the Knights put together strings of points to build a six-point lead at 19-13 by the end of the quarter.

Marian, who ranks No. 7 in NAIA Division II, built their lead using fast break attacks immediately following defensive rebounds, using their quickness to speed down the court. Both squads struggled maintaining the ball as they each committed five turnovers in the opening quarter.

After falling behind by eight in the early parts of the second quarter, the Blue Raiders began chipping away at the lead going on an 8-2 run to cut it to a one-possession game at 24-22.

A three pointer by Teanna Curry cut the lead down to one at 29-28 with 3:25 to play in the half and following a missed shot by the Knights, the Blue Raiders had a chance to retake the lead, but Curry's layup attempt rolled off the rim after splitting a pair of defenders on a drive to the hoop.

Marian proceeded to extend their lead using well timed cuts to the basket and their speedy transition offense to find the open pass for easy layups for the Knights.

At the break, the Knights had extended their lead to 37-31 over the host Blue Raiders.

Lindsey Wilson shot 36.4 percent in the opening half compared to an even 50.0 percent by Marian. Both teams concluded the opening 20 minutes of play with nine turnovers each. The Knights outscored the Blue Raiders in the paint 22-16 while Lindsey Wilson left points on the court making just 4-of-11 free throws.

Marian picked up where they left off in the third quarter, pushing their lead to double digits for the first time at 44-33 at the 7:30 mark of the third quarter.

The Knights went to a full court press after a made basket that forced multiple Blue Raider turnovers and slowed the Lindsey Wilson offense down significantly.

The Blue Raiders continued to battle back and despite the excellent sharp-shooting abilities of the Knights, Lindsey Wilson was able to cut the lead down to seven at 53-46 by the end of the third quarter.

Lindsey Wilson continued the momentum in the fourth and trimmed the lead down to one at 57-56 after Roberts drew a pair of defenders and dished the ball to a wide open Kayla Richardson for the layup with 4:42 to play.

After trailing for nearly 34 minutes, Lindsey Wilson finally took their first lead since 7-5 at the 6:23 mark of the first after a basket by Sandlin made it 58-57 in favor of the Blue Raiders with 2:54 to play. Billie Hearn saw her shot turned away, but Sandlin was there to strip the rebound away from the Knights' player and put it up for the basket and the lead.

The two teams traded baskets again to tie it at 60-60 before the Blue Raiders executed a perfect inbounds play to Roberts who put the Blue Raiders back on top 62-60. The made basket surpassed the 1,000 point milestone for Roberts.

She came up big again on the next possession with another basket. With the shot clock expiring, Sandlin hit Roberts underneath the basket as Roberts scored and was fouled to make it 64-60 with under a minute to play.

Marian had a chance to tie it after a pair of free throws and a Lindsey Wilson turnover, but the Knights were unable to get a shot off thanks to a stingy Blue Raider defensive effort, forcing a Marian shot clock violation.

Roberts was then fouled and went to the free throw line where she went 1-for-2, missing the second, but Curry came up with a huge offensive rebound and got the ball back to Roberts who was fouled again. This time at the line, Roberts hit both free throws to make it 67-62 with 14 seconds to play.

The two teams traded a pair of free throws in the final seconds and Marian hit two more with 0.2 seconds remaining, but it was too little too late as Lindsey Wilson completed the comeback win 69-66.

Sandlin and Curry both finished with 15 points and were the only other Blue Raiders in double figures. By the end of the night, Lindsey Wilson edged the Knights in shooting percentage 44.1 to 43.5 percent. The Blue Raiders made 10-of-16 shots from the charity stripe in the second half and were smart to limit the Knights' opportunities at the line as they went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.

Lakan Hasser-Smith led Marian with 17 points, followed by Jessica Almeida with 10.

Lindsey Wilson returns to action on Monday, Nov. 14, when the Blue Raiders host Hiwassee (Tenn.) at 6 p.m. CT.