MSSU women stay undefeated, whip Illinois-Springfield 60-42

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern women's basketball team finished its non-conference schedule this afternoon as the Lions took out visiting Illinois-Springfield 60-42 on Robert CornCourt inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

Southern (6-0) was led offensively Sharese Jones as she scored 14 points on 6-10 shooting from the field. She added a team-high seven rebounds. Deb Holcomb scored 13 points on 5-11 with six boards, while Chelsey Henry had 12 points on 5-8 shooting off the bench. Kenya Wilson-Brown had a career-high seven assists.

Illinois-Springfield (3-2) was led by 11 points from Chelsea Cross.

The Lions opened up the game on an 11-4 run after five points from Holcomb and two assists from Wilson-Brown sparked the output. UIS got to within three (13-10), but a 6-0 run from the Lions put Southern back on top 19-10 to end the first quarter.

UIS scored the first five points of the second quarter, but a bucket from Jones with 5:45 left, off a Holcomb steal stopped the run. A layup from Henry with 2:24 left made the lead nine (27-19), and a layup from Holcomb with six seconds left gave the Lions an 11-point lead, but a three from the Prairie Stars as time expired made the halftime score 31-23, Lions.

Southern shot 57 percent from the field in the half as Holcomb led all scorers with nine points. Jones and Henry had eight points each.

A fast-break bucket from Tami Morice off an assist from Wilson-Brown got the Lions on the board first to start the second half. A bucket in the paint from Jenson Maydewpushed the Lions' lead back up to ten (38-28) with 3:40 to go in the quarter and a bucket from Jones the next trip down made the score 40-28.

A fast-break bucket from Jones off an assist from Wilson-Brown made the Lions' lead 44-28 and also set a new career-high in assists for Wilson-Brown with her 7th of the game. The Lions' lead was 46-29 at the end of the third.

A three from Morice with 6:21 left in the fourth was the first points of the quarter for the Lions and stopped a four-minute long MSSU scoring drought. A three from Desirea Buerge with just under five minutes left put the Lions up 52-35 at the final media timeout of the game.

The Lions held a 39-26 advantage in rebounds as Southern out scored UIS 36-12 in the paint, including a 12-9 advantage in fast break points. The Lions' bench out scored UIS 22-12.

Southern will be back in action on December 3 when the Lions play host to Central Oklahoma. Tip off is slated for 5:30 pm.