MSSU women's basketball picked for eighth in MIAA

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) announced their women's basketball coaches' pre-season poll this morning.

Missouri Southern, who finished last season 20-7 overall and 14-5 in MIAA play for a fourth place finish, were picked to finish eighth this season by the MIAA coaches. Head CoachRonda Hubbard enters her third season at the helm of the program after leading the Lions to their first 20 win season since the 1995-96 campaign. In two years on the bench Hubbard has an overall record of 39-15 (.722), which is the most wins in the first two years of any tenure in MSSU women's basketball history and the .722 winning percentage is the second best in the first two seasons following the .750 set by former AD Sallie (Roper) Beard in 1974-75 and 1975-76.

Hubbard returns nine players from last season in which the Lions earned a first round by in the MIAA Post-Season Tournament before falling 70-64 to Central Missouri in the quarterfinals at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. Returning is second team All-MIAA selection senior Sharese Jones who led the team in both scoring (13.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.3 rpg). Joining Jones in returning to the Lions are seniors Kenya Wilson-Brown, Tami Morice, and Verjell Bowleg along with sophomores Jordan Dinyer, Jensen Maydew, Anna Hignight, Dru Clark, and Kayla Kivinski. Hubbard and staff also added a JUCO transfer Deb Holcomb(St. Louis CC), D1 transfer Bri Shavers (New Orleans), senior transfer Sanya (Si-nah) Azad (The Hauge University), and local freshmen Desirea Buerge (Webb City HS) and Chelsey Henry(Neosho HS).

Holcomb comes to the Lions from St. Louis Community College where she earned first team All-American honors her sophomore season. She was a first-team All-Conference and All-Region pick as a freshman, as well as a sophomore. A native of Denton, Texas, Holcomb finished second in the nation at the NJCAA D-II level with 25.2 points per game. Holcomb also was the first SLCC player to score 1,000 points as she finished with 1,088 for the Archers. During her two years with SLCC, Holcomb helped lead the Archers to a 40-15 record and two NJCAA Region XVI championship games.During her sophomore campaign Holcomb shot 45.5 percent (278-611) from the field and finished 16th in the nation in steals with 96. She also averaged 8.2 rebounds per contest, while shooting 71.8 percent (112-156) from the free throw line.Holcomb prepped at Billy Ryan High School where she was a 2011 graduate and played for coach Moesha Allen. Her sophomore season, Holcomb was an honorable mention All-Conference selection, while also being named Newcomer of the Year. She was a first-team All-District pick as a senior.

Shavers comes to Joplin from the University of New Orleans where she saw action in 22 games as a red-shirt freshman after sitting out 2013-14 due to an injury. She played 131 minutes in those 22 contests pulling down 33 rebounds with three steals and three blocks. A native of Carrollton, Texas, Shavers prepped at Creekview HS for coach Nikki Heath. She averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds during her senior season earning first team All-District and academic All-District honors to go along with second team All-State honors. During her junior season, she was named all-academic and was a honorable mention all-district selection.

Buerge, a Webb City standout, was a three sport star for the Cardinals lettering in basketball, softball, and track. In basketball, she earned first team All-District and second team All-COC during her sophomore season at WCHS and earned first team honors for both during her junior campaign while helping WCHS to a second place finish in MSHSAA Class 4 during her sophomore season. In Track & Field Buerge set the WCHS record in discus with a throw of 153'8 and in the shot put with a throw of 44'4". Buerge earned All-State in both shot and discus her junior year, winning the MSHSAA Class 4 title in discus, and All-State in discus her sophomore season. She will join Coach Patty Vavraand the Lions Track & Field team for the outdoor season as well. On the softball diamond Buerge led the Cardinals to a second place state finish her junior season while earning first team All-COC, All-District, and All-State honors at shortstop.

Chelsey played basketball for the Lady Wildcats for three years under Coach Lance Robbins and will play her senior season under Coach Grant Berendt. Under Robbins direction she earned first team All-COC and All-District honors her junior season. Henry was also selected as the MVP of the Neosho Holiday Tournament while being named to both the KURM basketball dream team and the Joplin Lady Eagle Classic All-Tournament team. Chelsey also set the Neosho High School record for most points in a season with 427 during her junior year. Chelsey also played volleyball and ran track for the Wildcats, earning Academic All-State in volleyball.

Azad comes to the Lions after spending three years at The Hague University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands...averaged 7.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest while playing in the Netherlands...a 2010 graduate of Sint-Maartenscollege in Voorburg, Holland.

The Lions open their season on November 8 as they travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas to take on the Razorbacks in an exhibition at 2 p.m.