Friday, December 18, 2015

MSSU women to call on the force during Star Wars Night

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)


In a galaxy far, far away the Missouri Southern Women will do battle with Washburn on Star Wars Night on Robert Corn Court inside The Leggett & Platt Athletic Center on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Last Time Out for the Rebel Forces
The Lions (9-2, 3-2 MIAA) are coming off a 71-58 win over the evil empire of third-ranked Emporia State. Southern shot a perfect 7-for-7 from three point range and shot 50 percent (19-for-38) from the field and out rebounded the Lady Hornets 34-28. It was the first time this season that ESU had allowed any opponent to shoot 50 percent from the field and out rebound them. 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 Jones chipped in with nine points and five boards, going 5-6 from the free throw line.

Last Time Out for Washburn
Despite a strong second half push to overcome a double-digit deficit in the third quarter, the Ichabod Women's Basketball team couldn't complete the comeback on the road and fell, 66-58, to Pittsburg State on Wednesday, Dec. 16. WU (6-4, 2-2 MIAA) outshot the Gorillas from the field, 37.3 to 36.1 percent and roared back from a 10-point deficit midway thru the third quarter to tie it, 42-all, early in the fourth before falling late. Dohnalek and Bowens each had 14 points to lead the team, as Felisha Gibbs grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds on the night. Haley Pfau finished with nine points and Jayna Smith had nine rebounds, just missing her third consecutive double-digit rebounding effort. As a team, Washburn continued its season-long streak of winning the rebounding battle, outdoing the Gorillas on the boards, 46-35, and outscored the Gorillas, 32-26, in the paint.

The Coaches
WU - Ron McHenry, 380-98 (16th Season)
MSSU - Ronda Hubbard, 48-17 (3rd Season)

The Series
The Ichabods hold a 45-27 overall advantage over the Lions. The Lions are 17-18 in Joplin against Washburn and are 5-9 inside The Leggett & Platt Athletic Center, while only being 10-27 in Topeka, Kan. Southern's last win over Washburn at home came in the 13-14 season as the Lions upset then 20th ranked Washburn 68-59. That win snapped a six game win streak for the Ichabods. The Lions snapped a four game losing streak at Lee Arena last season as they upset then seventh-ranked Washburn 66-62 as they moved to 8-0, 2-0 on the season. The longest winning streak for the Lions was six games from Jan. 27, 1978 thru Jan. 26, 1980. The Ichabods longest winning streak is at seven, from Jan. 30, 1987 thru Feb. 12, 1990. Under Coach Hubbard the Lions are 2-0 against Washburn.

Last Time Lions Faced Washburn
Topeka, Kan. - What was billed as a battle of two of the nation's top defenses lived up to expectations as the Missouri Southern Lions (8-0, 2-0 MIAA) came away with a 66-62 win over seventh ranked Washburn University (7-1, 1-1 MIAA) Saturday evening inside Lee Arena.
Leading the way with her second-straight career night wasJenson Maydew with 14 points, 12 in the first half. Maydew was also the leader in rebounds with eight while Nic Hartzogadded seven, and Sharese Jones pulled down six.
Both teams traded the lead back and forth as Camila Lacerdagave the Lions the 25-24 lead on a pair of free throws headed into halftime. For the half, Southern shot 35 percent (7-20) from the field and 57 percent (4-7) from downtown. Maydew was a perfect 3-3 from three point range to lead the Lions with 12 point and Hartzog led the way on the boards with six.
Southern came out of the locker room and pushed their lead up to seven at 31-24 on a three by Jordan Dinyer at the 19:14 mark. After a layup from Washburn, Jones answered with her own as the Lions once again led by seven with just over 18 minutes to play.
Washburn made a 7-0 run that included a jumper from Honor Duvall and threes from Casyn Buchman and Taylor Ignoto to give the Ichabods a 38-36 lead with 14:33 to play. The Lions answered right back with an 6-0 run of their own as the teams tied the game for the eighth, 46-46, and ninth, 48-48, time of the game before the Ichabods would take their largest lead of the night at 57-50 with 5:22 to play on a layup by Ignoto.
Southern whittled the lead down after a three from Dinyer, a pair of free throws from Hartzog, and a free throw from Lacerda. The Lions took the lead again at 58-57 as Jones sunk a layup from Hartzog with 3:21 to play. After a pair of free throws form Lex Fitzpatrick Southern had a 62-57 lead, but a jumper from Erika Lane and a three pointer from Buchman with just 53 seconds left tied the game for a tenth time at 62-62.
Coming out of a time out Lacerda had an open look from beyond the arc on the left wing that hit the front of the rim. Duvall controlled the rebound for Washburn before Hartzog came away with the steal. A missed layup from Hartzog was rebounded by Jones as she was fouled by Duvall to give the Lions free throws with 25 seconds left. After converting the double bonus Washburn missed a jumper to tie the game Maydew came up with the rebound and found a streaking Lacerda down the right side for a wide open layup and the 66-62 win.

Probable Starters
Washburn (6-4, 2-2 MIAA)
4 Erika Lane G 5-10 Jr. (Topeka, Kan.)
10 Haley Pfau G/F 5-11 Sr. (Oskaloosa, Kan.)
21 Julie Ravn G 5-9 Jr. (Horsens, Denmark)
23 Felisha Gibbs C 6-2 Jr. (Parkin, Ark.)
24 Jayna Smith F 5-10 Sr. (Holton, Kan.)

Missouri Southern (9-2, 3-2 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 5-8 Sr. (St. Charles, Mo.)



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