MSSU women to play Illinois-Springfield, McKendree this weekend

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern women's basketball team hits the road for a pair of contests versus competitors from the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) beginning Saturday against the Illinois-Springfield Prairie Stars at 7:30 pm and finishing the weekend versus the McKendree Bearcats at 3:00 pm on Sunday.

Game Information

Date: Saturday, November 16 - Sunday, November 17
Tip-Off: 7:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Location: Springfield, Ill. - Lebanon, Ill.
Site: The Recreation and Athletic Center - Melvin Price Convocation Center

Picking Up the Scent: Five Components on Opponents

Illinois-Springfield (2-0)

Picked to finish 15th in the GLVC
Top-50 nationally:
35th - steals per game (12.0)
41st - personal fouls per game (15.0)
45th - blocked shots per game (4.0)

Post-season Award Returnees

So., G Lauren Ladowski: All-GLVC Freshman Team
Averages 14.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and steals, and 2.5 assist per game after averaging 12. 6 points, 3.4 assists, and 1.6 steal per contest last as a freshman

Began the women's basketball program during the 1995-96 season and is in search of the program's first winning season since recording back-to-back season with 20-plus victories (1997-98 & 1998-99)
Is 1-2 all-time against the Lions, including a four-point loss last year in Joplin, but captured the one win in Springfield during the 2016-17 season

McKendree Bearcats(3-0)

Picked Eighth in the GLVC
Top-50 nationally:
7th - free-throws made (60)
8th - free-throws attempted (91)
25th - three-point field-goal defense (19.7)
39th - rebounds (128)
49th - assists (45) and defensive rebounds per game (30.3)

Post-season Award Returnees
Jr., G Sydney Diekhoff: All-GLVC (2nd team)
Ranked sixth and led the Bearcats in scoring with 15 points per contest, including a career-high 27 points last season
Led the team with a 84.7 percent clip from the free-throw line to land in the top-40 nationally
Named to the GLVC All-Freshman team during the 2017-18 season
Has yet to play a game thus far to begin the 2018-19 campaign
Sr., G Jordan Heberg: All-GLVC (3rd team)
Became the tenth player in program history to hit100 three-pointers in career and stands at 133 as of right now
Also scored a career-high 27 points in a game last season
Currently leads the team in points per contest (14.7) as she led the team in points as a freshman and sophomore

Added a 5-8 transfer named Madison Jones from Lincoln Land Community College
Currently averages a double-double with 11.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per game
Averaged 14.4 points and shot nearly 50 percent from the field toward first-team All-Conference and All-Region honors as a sophomore after averaging 17.7 points per game as a freshman at LLCC
First meeting between the two programs in the NCAA Division II era

Bring on the Polls

The Lions tip off the 2019-20 season and were picked ninth in the MIAA after capping off a 14-16 overall record and 6-13 in the MIAA along with a berth into the MIAA tournament where they eventually fell to Central Oklahoma in the first round. Defending Conference champions Fort Hays State was picked to win the conference again with ten first-place votes as well as earn a ranking of seventh by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). Central Missouri followed in second of the MIAA coaches' poll while landing eleventh in the national poll. Washburn (3), Pittsburg State (4), and Emporia State (5) rounded out the top five. ESU received 28 votes towards cracking the top-25 as seen below:

Send It Back

One goal that coach Ressel set for the Lions heading into the season was to improve on defense. Thus far as opponents try to shoot from the paint, the Lions have been preventing many shots from even reaching the rim with 22 combined blocks through three games for first in the MIAA and eight blocks up on second-ranked Pittsburg State and Central Missouri (15). Junior Zoe Campbell has 13 of them on her way to breaking the school record for most blocks in a game with seven against Harding University and then adding a block against Graceland to slot her in a tie for fifth in career blocks with 64.

Take the Long Way Home

Another dimension on the defense that MSSU wanted to sure up was around the perimeter and the team has certainly done its job by limiting opponents to 29.4-clip on 51 attempts from three-point range, which ranks fifth in the MIAA at three-point field-goal defense. The Lions defense is also ranked third in total field-goal defense by holding opponents to 33.5 percent shooting from the field on 203 attempts.

Up Next

The Lions continue onto Claremore, Oklahoma for a non-conference match up with fellow MIAA member Rogers State on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 2:00 pm in the third game of a four-game road tilt.