Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Long-range shooting lifts MSSU women to win over third-ranked Emporia State


(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern women's basketball team went 7-7 from long-range and took out third-ranked Emporia State tonight on Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

Southern (9-2, 3-2 MIAA) defeats the Hornets for the first time since 2011 when the Lions won 82-74 in overtime at home.

The Lions were led offensively by Deb Holcomb as the junior scored 20 points on 6-8 shooting and a perfect 5-5 from behind the arc. Chelsey Henry scored 11 points, while Bri Shavers had ten points and seven rebounds. Sharese Joneschipped in with nine points and five boards, going 5-6 from the free throw line.

Emporia (8-2, 2-2 MIAA) moves its record to 5-5 in Joplin since 2001 when the team was ranked in the WBCA national poll. The Hornets had three score in double-figures, led by 13 points each from Addie Lackey and Kathryn Flott.

The Lions trailed 5-4 after a bucket from the Lady Hornets' Addie Lackey with 7:45 left in the 1st quarter. However, Southern went on a 7-0 run capped off by a pair of freebies from Kenya Wilson-Brown and led 12-5 with 3:34 to go in the quarter. A pair of free throws from Henry and a defensive stop as time expired gave the Lions a 16-11 lead after one.

A three pointer from Jenson Maydew gave the Lions a ten-point lead (24-14) with 5:59 left in the second quarter. After the Hornets had got to within four (24-20), a layup from Maydew and a three from Holcomb pushed the Lions' lead back to nine (29-20) with 3:17 to go.

Another three from Holcomb, this with 1:12 left pushed the lead back to ten (32-22) and forced an Emporia timeout. A pair of freebies from Bri Shavers with 16 seconds left in the half pushed the lead back to ten (34-24) but a three from the Hornets as time expired gave Southern a 34-27 lead going into the locker room.

A three pointer from Holcomb gave Southern a 41-29 lead with 6:52 to go in the third quarter and a jumper from Holcomb gave the Lions a 16-point lead (47-31) with 4:55 to go in the quarter. Emporia got the Southern lead back to 12, but a free throw from Jones and a late bucket from Morice gave the Lions a 54-39 lead after three.

Southern started the fourth quarter cold and only had two free throws from Shavers through the first three minutes as Emporia opened up the quarter on a 7-2 run. ESU cut the Lions' lead to just five (56-51) with 3:54 left before a three from Holcomb with 3:37 to go gave Southern an eight-point advantage.

Another three from Holcomb, this time as time was expiring on the shot cock, gave the Lions a 62-55 lead with two minutes to go in the game. A pair of freebies from Wilson-Brown and a defensive stop for the Lions gave Southern a 64-56 lead with 1:17 to go and Southern broke the press to find a wide-open Henry with a big bucket to push the lead back to ten.

The Lions made their free throws down the stretch and held on for the win.

Southern will be back in action this weekend when the Lions play host to Washburn University. Tip off is slated for 1 pm.



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