MSSU women to close non-conference slate

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

 The Missouri Southern Lions (5-0) will close out their 2015-16 non-conference schedule with Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) member University of Illinois at Springfield Prairie Stars (3-1) Saturday afternoon on Robert Corn Court inside The Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

Tip off inside LPAC is scheduled for 1 p.m. and this will be the first meeting between the Lions and UIS. Southern is coming off a 84-47 win over Avila on Tuesday evening in Joplin where senior Sharese Jones joined the 1,000 career point club with 4:06 left in the third quarter. Sophomore Jenson Maydew led Southern with a season-high 15 points while Jones finished the game with 14 points (1,005 career points). Maydew tied her career high with three buckets from beyond the arc, the last time Maydew connected three times from downtown was a 66-62 win at then seventh ranked Washburn on December 7, 2014. The Lions came one three pointer away from tying the school record for most three pointers in a game as they drained 13 long range shots against the Eagles. The record was set back on December 12, 1990 against College of the Ozarks and was tied twice (vs. Central Oklahoma on November 25, 1994 & at Truman State January 25, 2003). On the season, Jones leads the way for Southern with 20.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Junior Deb Holcomb is averaging 16.2 points per contest while Maydew is pulling down 6.2 rebounds per game. Missouri Southern is shooting 40.0 percent (118-for-295) from the field and allowing their opponents 39.8 percent (101-for-254) from the field. The Lions are shooting 34.7 percent (33-for-95) from downtown and holding their opponents to 25.0 percent (16-for-64).

Series Notes
This is the first meeting between Southern and UIS. The Lions faced another opponent this season for the first time as they defeated Minnesota State Mankato 70-58 at LPAC on Nov. 18.

The Coaches
UIS: Mark Kost (3-1, 1st Season)
MSSU: Ronda Hubbard (44-15, 3rd Season)

Projected Starters
Illinois-Springfield (3-1, 0-0 GLVC)
3 Meredith Marti G 5-10 Sr. (Indianapolis, Ind.)
5 Morgan Knorr G 5-7 Sr. (Savannah, Mo.)
14 Shelbi Patterson G 5-9 So. (Indianapolis, Ind.)
44 Syerra Cunningham F 6-1 Jr. (Beach Park, Ill.)
55 Chelsea Cross G/F 5-9 Jr. (Champaign, Ill.)

Missouri Southern (5-0, 0-0 MIAA)
11 Kenya Wilson-Brown G 5-5 Sr. (Arlington, Texas)
14 Tami Morice G 5-11 Sr. (Naperville, Ill.)
24 Deb Holcomb G 5-7 Jr. (Dallas, Texas)
30 Bri Shavers F 6-0 So. (Carrollton, Texas)
44 Sharese Jones G/F 5-8 Sr. (St. Charles, Mo.)