MSSU women look to extend winning streak

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

Joplin, Mo. - Looking to extend their longest winning streak in six seasons, the Missouri Southern women's basketball team returns to MIAA action on Saturday traveling to third-ranked Emporia State to take on the Lady Hornets at 1:30 p.m. at William L. White Auditorium.

Game Information

Date: Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013
Tip-Off: 1:30 p.m., CT
Location: Emporia, Kan.
Site: William L. White Auditorium (5,000)
Series Record: ESU leads 49-23 (Home: 16-17, Away: 7-29, Neutral: 0-3)
Coaches: Ronda Hubbard (8-1 at MSSU, overall). Jory Collins (76-27 at Emporia State, overall).

Media Coverage

MSSU Radio: KZYM-AM 1230 The Talker, Mike McClure, Play-by-Play
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/emporia/wbball/
Live Video: http://www.americaonesports.com/partner_members.asp?id=293
Lions on Facebook: Facebook.com/missourisouthernlions
Lions on Twitter: @mososports

Last time out for the Lions (8-1, 2-0 MIAA): Winning their eighth consecutive game, the Missouri Southern Lions women's basketball used a balanced scoring effort to roll past non-conference opponent William Woods 80-57 tonight at Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

The Lions (8-1) were led in scoring by Nicole Hartzog with 18 points, one shy of her career-high 19 set this year against Evangel. The junior guard from Beaverton, Oregon finished 6-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range and added seven rebounds. Three other Lions finished in double figures as Sharese Jonesand Dominique Mosley poured in 16 points each and Shawnee Phillips added 14 points, including going 4-7 from behind the arc. Jones added a game-high nine rebounds. The eight game winning streak is Southern's longest such streak since they started the 2007-08 season with nine consecutive wins.

With Southern up four at halftime, the first three minutes of the second half saw the Owls continue to keep pace with the Lions, before Southern started to find its stroke from the outside going on a 16-6 run over the next 4:36 to open up a 58-43 lead after a layup from Mosley with 12:04 to play. That run featured six points from Mosley and four from Jones. After a three-pointer from William Woods' Katie Schreder cut the lead to twelve at 58-46, the Lions went on a 14-2 run to take their largest lead of the game at 72-48 as they cruised to the 80-57 victory.

Last time out for the Lady Hornets (10-0, 2-0 MIAA): Reigning MIAA Player of the Week Laura Patrick had 21 points and Desiree Wylie added a double double off the bench as #3 Emporia State defeated Southwest Baptist 85-53 on Wednesday night (Dec. 18) in White Auditorium.  With the win the Lady Hornets moved to 10-0 for the first time since 2005-06.

The Lady Hornets never trailed and took command with a 16-0 run to take a 24-6 lead with 10:35 left in the first half. The Bearcats cut the lead to ten with 2:49 left in the period but a three pointer from Patrick and two layups from Haley Parker gave the Lady Hornets a 46-31 lead going to the locker rooms. A 13-1 run in the second half pushed the Emporia State lead to 79-47 with 3:59 left. Patrick had four assists to go with her 21 points while Wylie finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds and a career high tying three assists.  Kionna Kellogg added 11 points while Haley Parker dished six assists with no turnovers.

The Coaches: Ronda Hubbard (8-1) is in her 13th year on the staff at Missouri Southern and was promoted to the position of Interim Head Coach on July 2, 2013 after the retirement of Maryann Mitts. During her 12 years with the Lions, she has helped the team to a 189-145 record, including winning marks and a trip to the MIAA post season tournament in all but one of those 12 seasons. In 2000-01, Hubbard helped the University of Texas-Pan American post its most wins in a season since becoming an NCAA Division I institution in 1985, and the second most victories in school history. Prior to her stint at Texas-Pan American, she served on current Lions head coach Maryann Mitts' staff as an assistant at Rockhurst University from 1996-2000. There, she helped the Lady Hawks post a 68-45 record and advance to the 1997-98 Sweet 16.

Jory Collins (76-27) is in his fourth season as the coach of the Lady Hornets. The Hornets finished 2012-13 with a 23-9 overall record, 13-5 in the MIAA, winning the conference tournament and advanced to the Central Regional Tournament Championship game before falling to Augustana.In 2011-12, Collins lead the Hornets to a 23-9 record while qualifying for the NCAA Tournament before falling to Pittsburg State in the regional championship game. In 2010-11 he led ESU to a 20-9 record and became the second MIAA coach to win 20 games and make the MIAA Tournament Championship Game in his first season.

The series between the schools: Emporia State leads the overall series with Southern 49-23. The Lions trail 16-17 at home, but are only 7-29 on the road, while also dropping three neutral site games. On Saturday, the Lions will look to snap a 18-game losing streak at Emporia as Southern has not defeated the Lady Hornets in Emporia since February 24, 1996 when they won 78-66. Emporia State has won 11 of the past 13 match-ups with the Lions dating back to the 2007-08 season. Southern's two wins in the past six seasons have both come at home in 2008 and 2011.

Scouting #3 Emporia State: Bringing a perfect 10-0 record, 2-0 in the MIAA into Saturday's game, the third-ranked Lady Hornets bring a high-powered offense to the court as they average 77.8 points per game, shoot 44.5% from the field and grab 45.7 rebounds per game, all top five marks in the MIAA. Senior guard Laura Patrick leads the Lady Hornets in scoring averaging 15.4 points per game, while senior forward Kionna Kellogg, a transfer from Division I Minnesota, averages 11.2 ppg. and 5.2 rpg.   

Lions sit atop the MIAA standings: The Lions opened up MIAA play at home last weekend winning a pair of MIAA games over Nebraska-Kearney and Washburn as they sit atop the MIAA standings as one of only three 2-0 teams with Emporia State and Lindenwood being the other two.

MIAA Team Rankings: The Lions rank 1st in the MIAA in free-throw percentage (.787), 2nd in FG percentage (.470), assists per game (17.6) and 4th in scoring offense (77.3 ppg.).

MIAA Individual Rankings: Samantha Soyez continues to lead the MIAA in assists averaging 6.0 apg as she has dished 48 helpers on the season. Shonte Clay leads the MIAA in FG percentage as she is shooting 60.3% from the field hitting 44-73 on the year. Nicole Hartzog ranks second in the MIAA in free-throw percentage at .967% hitting 29-of-30 on the year. Alexis Fitzpartick ranks second in the MIAA in assist/turnover ratio at 5.0 as she has 40 assists and only eight turnovers on the year. Sharese Jones ranks third in the league in rebounding grabbing 9.3 rpg. Mosley is sixth grabbing 8.0 rpg. Mosley ranks third in the MIAA in scoring averaging 18.4 ppg.  Jones is 7th at 15.6 ppg. Clay is 16th with 12.7 ppg.