MSSU women to play host to Central Missouri

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern Women are set to host the Jennies of the University of Central Missouri on Saturday on Corn Court inside The Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. Tip off for the MIAA contest is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Last Time Out for the Lions (10-5, 4-5 MIAA)

The Missouri Southern women's basketball program led for more than 35 minutes and the Lions took out the visiting Bearcats of Southwest Baptist, 74-61 tonight onRobert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

Southern (10-5, 4-5 MIAA) was led by Sharese Jones as she had her fourth double-double of the season with a season-high 27 points and ten rebounds. Deb Holcomb had a career-high 26 points, going 5-10 from deep and playing all 40 minutes, while Tami Morice chipped in a season-high ten points. Dru Clark had a career-high six assists, while Desirea Buerge had a career-high six boards.
The Bearcats opened up a 6-1 lead early on, but the Lions went on a 13-0 run capped by a layup from Jones with 2:17 left in the quarter and led 14-6. A bucket from SBU the next trip down made the score 14-8 with 1:52 left and a last-second free throw was the only score for the rest of the quarter as the Lions led 14-9 after one.

A three from Holcomb with 8:26 left in the second quarter gave the Lions a 22-12 lead and another three from Holcomb with 6:19 left made the score 26-12. However, SBU went on a 10-0 run and got to within four (26-22) with 4:19 to go.

The Lions, however, answered right back and finished the half on an 11-2 run and led 37-24 going into the locker room. Holcomb led all scorers at the half with 16 points.
A three from Dru Clark on the Lions' first possession of the second half put the score at 40-24, Southern. A three from Jones gave the Lions a 17-point lead (51-34) with 4:39 to go and a bucket from Morice with 2:35 left in the quarter pushed the lead to 19 (53-34). SBU finished the quarter on a 6-0 run.
A jumper from Holcomb with just over seven minutes to go pushed the Lions' lead to 60-46, and the lead reached 13 five more times in the quarter before the final tally.
Southern shot 47 percent from the field and 43 percent from the three-point line in the game. The Lions made just 68 percent of their free throws in the game, but made 80 percent of them in the second half.
The Lions out rebounded SBU 35-33 and forced 17 turnovers, scoring 17 points off of the miscues.

Last Time Out for the Jennies

Senior Shelby Winkelmann led five Jennies in double figures, scoring 28 points and picking up her first double-double of the season with a career-high 10 assists. The win is Central Missouri's third straight and moves them to 5-7 on the season and 4-3 in the MIAA.
Winkelmann wasn't the only Jennie with a double-double as seniorAshley Jones scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Tayler Weiks scored 13 points, Danielle Randle set a career-best with 12 points and Sydney Crockett added 11.

UCM shot 50% from the floor for the second straight game, connecting on 33-of-65 attempts. The Jens were also 11-of-19 from beyond the arc. Winkelmann was 4-of-5 from three and Randle, Crockett and Weiks all splashed two treys.

Central Missouri got off to a hot start. After the Gorillas took a 7-6 lead, the Jens closed the opening frame on a 15-7 run. Crockett hit back-to-back threes with just over a minute remaining to put Central Missouri up seven.

Pitt State was able to cut into the Jennies lead before the half. The Gorillas actually retook the lead with 4:41 to play in the second, but consecutive baskets from Danielle Barry and Winkelmann gave UCM a lead which they never gave back.

UCM closed the half getting a pair of free throws from Weiks and one from Jones, taking a 35-30 lead into the half.

The third period has been good to the Jennies this season and tonight was no exception. UCM scored 34 points after the break pushing their lead to a high of 24 before the period ended.
Pitt State tried to make a comeback in the fourth, getting to within 13 points of UCM but the Jennies were able to hold them off as Winkelmann and Weiks hit threes to put the game on ice.
The 87 points are the most the Jennies have scored all season and it is the first win for the Jennies on the road.

Pittsburg State had three players in double-figures led by Mikaela Burgess who scored 22. Kylie Gafford added 18 points and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds. Hadyn Herlocker handed out seven assists.

The Series
This is the 59th meeting between the Lions and the Jennies and UCM leads the series 37-21.
Last Season The Jennies took the season series 2-1, winning both in Warrensburg and in the quarterfinal matchup in the MIAA post-season tournament in Kansas City.

UCM's longest winning streak in the series ended at six meetings against Southern starting on Jan. 26, 2011 with a 69-63 win in Warrensburg. The Jennies have had two winning streaks of four games and one of five games previously in the series.

Southern's longest winning streak of five wins started on Feb. 26, 1992 and went through Jan. 18, 1995.

UCM holds a 20-7 advantage in Warrensburg over the Lions. When in Joplin the series is tied at 14-14. The Jennies have a 3-1 advantage at the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City.

Last Time vs. Central Missouri

Kansas City, Mo. - The Missouri Southern women's basketball team closed the game on a 31-19 run, but couldn't complete the comeback as the Lions fell 70-64 today in the quarterfinals of the 2015 MIAA Basketball Tournament at Municipal Auditorium. 

Southern (20-7) was led offensively by Sharese Jones who picked up a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, on 4-8 shooting and 6-8 from the free throw line. Jordan Dinyer scored ten points, eight of which in the second half, converting two big three pointers and pulling down six boards.
Central (21-8) had three score in double-figures, led by 23 points and nine rebounds from Revonnia Howard. 

A three from Shawnee Phillips tied the game at five with 15:11 to go in the first half, but Central went on a 6-0 run to lead 11-5 with 12:58 left. the lead was eight (20-12) after a three from the Jennies with 7:45 to go and it was eight again (24-16) at the 6:21 mark. 

Southern started to put a run together and the Lions got to within seven (29-22) before back-to-back three's from Jolee Sharp and Nic Hartzog made the score 31-28 with 2:50 to go in the half. A jones free throw with 14 seconds left made the halftime score 37-31, Central. 

The Lions shot 33 percent from the field in the half and 79 percent from the free throw line.
The Jennies started the second half on a 10-3 run and led 51-34 with 14:33 left in the game. Southern answered that with an 8-0 run of its own to get to within nine (51-42) and after the teams traded baskets, a pair of free throws from Hartzog with 8:33 left cut the lead to seven (55-48).

A three from Jordan Dinyer with 7:28 to go made the score 59-51, while a block on the defensive end from Sharp and another three from Dinyer cut the UCM lead to four (66-62) with 2:26 left. A put back from Dinyer after an offensive rebound got Southern within two (66-64) with 44 seconds left, but a pair of free throws for the Jennies gave Central a four-point lead with 15.4 seconds on the clock. The Lions' attempt was not good and Central hit two more free throws to put the game away. 

The Lions shot 35 percent from the field, 33 percent from long range and 81 percent from the free throw line. Southern had a 42-34 advantage in rebounds, but the Jennies out scored the Lions 42-20 in the paint.

The Coaches
Missouri Southern
Ronda Hubbard is in her 15th year on the staff at Missouri Southern and her third year at the helm. During her 15 years with the Lions, she has helped the team to a 239-163 record, including a 49-20 record in her first two plus seasons at the helm of the Lions program. Last season's 20 wins was the first time the women's team had won 20 games since the 1995-96 season.

Central Missouri
Dave Slifer enters his 12th season at the helm of the Jennies, compiling a 216-111 record at UCM. With the Jennies mark of 21-9 in 2014-15, Slifer has led UCM to four straight 20+ win seasons for the first time since a stretch of 11 straight years from 1981-92.

Probable Starters
Central Missouri (5-7, 4-3 MIAA)
00 Paige Redmond G 5-7 Fr. (Springdale, Ark.)
11 Tayler Weiks G 5-9 Jr. (Seattle, Wash.)
23 Shelby Winkelmann G 5-9 Sr. (Hermann, Mo.)
34 Ashley Duffy G/F 5-10 Jr. (San Diego, Calif.)
42 Ashley Jones F 6-2 Sr. (Tulsa, Okla.)

Missouri Southern (10-5, 4-5 MIAA)
1 Dru Clark G 5-7 So. (Collinsville, Okla.)
11 Kenya Wilson-Brown G 5-5 Sr. (Arlington, Texas)
21 Desirea Buerge F 6-0 Fr. (Webb City, Mo.)
24 Deb Holcomb G 5-7 Jr. (Dallas, Texas)
44 Sharese Jones G 5-8 Sr. (St. Charles, Mo.)