MSSU women defeat Missouri Western 81-69

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern Women's Basketball team (16-6, 10-5 MIAA) defeated visiting Missouri Western (11-10, 6-9 MIAA) 81-69 Saturday afternoon on Robert Corn Court inside The Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

In a game that saw five ties in the first seven minutes, Missouri Western took control at the 11:13 mark of the first half as they built and maintained a six point lead until the 5:23 mark of the half. Southern started to whittle away at the lead as the Lions took over at the 2:33 mark on a three pointer from Camila Lacerda. Southern closed the first half on a 12-0 run to take a 37-31 lead into the locker room.

At the break Nic Hartzog led all scorers with 13, nine from the charity stripe.

Following a technical foul on LaQuinta Jefferson after the first half buzzer sounded, Hartzog sank the two free throws to start the second period. that would ignite a 9-0 run to start the half and make it a 21-0 run over seven and half minutes of play. That would be Southern's largest lead of the game at 17, 49-32, before Western would scratch its way back to within seven using a 14-4 run at 53-46 with just over 12 minutes to play. The Lions would answer as they pushed the lead back to 15, 62-47, using a 9-1 run that was ignited by a jumper from Lex Fitzpatrick. During that run Hartzog went 4-4 from the charity stripe and Jenson Maydew dialed it up from long distance right in front of the Southern bench to end the threat.

Lacerda led the way offensively for the Lions as she finished with a career-high 25 points while Hartzog added 20. Maydew led the way on the board as she pulled down eight to go with her eight points on the day. Fitzpatrick and Lacerda combined for nine out of Southern's 13 assists on the day while Hartzog came up with four out of the seven steals for the team. Sharese Jones added nine points and four rebounds for The Green & Gold despite early foul trouble.

For the game Southern finished 21-51 from the field for 41 percent and came within three of setting a new single game record for free throws made as they sank 35-42. The Lions also out rebounded Missouri Western 34-32.

Up next for Southern is a midweek match-up with Southwest Baptist. The tilt between the Lions and SBU is scheduled for Wednesday Feb. 18 at 5:30 pm