No. 1 Lincoln Christian got out to an early lead and never looked back, as the Bulldogs rolled over No. 2 (3A) Sequoyah Tahlequah on Thursday night in the opening round of the 60th Annual Tournament of Champions in Tulsa.

Sequoyah Tahlequah (7-1) found some early success, leading 8-4 midway through the first quarter.

But Lincoln (8-0) closed the opening quarter on a 15-1 run to lead by double-digits heading into the second quarter.

"We were a little sluggish coming out offensively," said Lincoln head coach Melody Stewart. "Part of that is coming off of a break, but we finally found a rhythm."

After the Indians cut the lead back to eight early in the 2nd at 21-13, Lincoln responded with another run, this time an 11-4 stretch to lead by 15 in the closing minutes before half.

Lincoln forced 13 first half turnovers, while making five threes and assisting on six of nine made field goals to lead 32-20 at the break.

"I thought we did a very good job defensively against a team with a lot of depth and tradition as a powerhouse girls basketball team in our state," Stewart said. 

Do-it-all senior wing Maddi Stewart had a big night for the in the Bulldogs' win, as she led all scorers with 21 points, while adding 11 rebounds and two assists.

She was 6-of-12 from the floor, 2-of-5 from three and 7-of-8 from the foul line.

Lincoln, which extended its win-streak to 31 games, came out of the locker room with its foot on the gas, as the Bulldogs pushed the lead out to over 20 thanks to Stewart and another star senior.

Guard Alexis Leyva grabbed a rebound and went the length of the floor before dishing off a no-look pass to Stewart for the finish and foul, putting Lincoln up 43-22 midway through the 3rd.

Leyva finished the game with 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists and six steals, while also going 2-of-5 from three.

The 11-2 run helped power Lincoln to a 49-27 lead through three quarters.

The Bulldogs won their 10th game in the TOC in the last five years.

Lincoln shot 37% from the flor in the win, but made 8-of-25 (35%) threes and was 15-of-20 (75%) from the foul line.

The Bulldogs, who are holding opponents to 27% from the field on the season, forced Sequoyah Tahlequah into just 10-of-38 (26%) from the floor and caused 25 turnovers.

Lincoln scored 24 points off turnovers and had a 19-2 edge in transition.

The Bulldogs had 13 offensive rebounds for a 10-2 advantage in second chance points and Lincoln outscored the Indians 20-8 in the paint.

Lincoln held Sequoyah Tahlequah to just 4-of-20 (20%) from the floor and 1-of-7 (14%) from three in the second half.

Freshman Laine Dooley added eight points and two steals on 3-of-5 shooting in just 11 minutes of action for Lincoln.

Junior forward Jayla Albert had five points, three steals and three rebounds.

The Bulldogs will take on Union tonight in the semifinals at 7 p.m.

Lincoln has made the finals in this event in each of the last five seasons and is looking for the program's second Tournament of Champions title.

The Bulldogs last loss came to Booker T Washington in last year's TOC final, which was 367 days ago.

Lincoln is 91-8 since the start of the 2022-23 season and is 10-3 in the TOC since 2021-22.

Photos by Lee Talley