Shonte Clay's 30 leads MSSU women past Rockhurst

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

Thanks to a career-high 30 points from senior forward Shonte Clay, the Missouri Southern Lions women's basketball team raced past Rockhurst 82-56 this afternoon at the Mason-Halpin Field House.

Becoming the first Lion to score 30 points in a game since Jasmine Lovejoy in 2011 when she scored 33 points in the season finale against Pittsburg State, Mosley finished with 30 points on 10-13 shooting from the field, including going a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. She added a career-high 14 rebounds, including seven of the Lions (5-1) nine offensive boards on the afternoon.

Sharese Jones nearly had her second double-double of the season as she added 15 points and nine rebounds.Nicole Hartzog chipped in 15 points and Alexis Fitzpatrick added 10 along with five assists.

Rockhurst (4-3) was in scoring by Kendall Hartand Mary Dineen who each finished with nine points.

With the Hawks jumping out to an early 10-8 lead, Southern responded with a 7-0 run thanks to a three-pointer from Hartzog and a pair of layups from Shonte Clay and Alexis Fitzpatrick. After Rockhurst kept the Lions lead at five over the next four minutes, Southern used another 7-0 run to extend their lead to 30-18 getting all seven points from Jones, including hitting a pair of three-pointers.

With a Rockhurst free throw cutting the lead to nine at 34-25, Southern responded with a 8-0 run getting a pair of layups from Mosley, free throws from Jones and a layup from Fitzpatrick to take a comfortable 17-point lead as they took a 43-28 lead into the halftime break.

Looking to put the game away quickly into the second half, the Lions did just that as they started the half on a 16-5 run getting eight points from Hartzog and four from Mosley to extend their lead to 59-33. Rockhurst responded with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 59-39, but Southern put the Hawks away using an 13-1 run, including eight points from Mosley over the ensuing 4:42 to take a commanding 72-40 lead with 7:47 to play in the game. The Lions would win by a final of 82-56.

Southern shot 50% from the field on the day going 28-56, while hitting 7-of-24 (.292) from three-point range. The Lions had their best game from the free-throw line as they shot 19-of-22 from the line.

Southern returns to action at home on Thursday as they start MIAA play hosting Nebraska-Kearney (3-3) at 5:30 p.m. at Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.