(From Missouri Southern Sports)Duluth, Minn. - The 18th ranked Missouri Southern Lions overcame a 12 point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Augustana 75-74 on Friday to advance to the Central Region Semifinals inside Romano Gymnasium.
The Lions (28-6, 16-6 MIAA) were led by Lacy Stokes with a program regional record 28 points while adding three rebounds and three assists.
Amaya Johns had a 17 point and 11 rebound double-double, the fifth double-double in program history at a regional tournament and the fourth most rebounds in a single game. Layne Skiles scored 12 points going 4-for-8 from three to move into second in career three pointers made while grabbing seven rebounds with three assists and three steals. Kaitlin Hunnicutt had 10 points and Madi Stokes had eight rebounds.
Augustana (25-6, 18-4 NSIC) was led by Michaela Jewett with 27 points and seven rebounds.
In the first quarter the Vikings got out to a 7-3 lead early but a Johns three and Lacy Stokes jumper made it an 8-7 lead with 6:30 left. Augustana would reclaim the lead and go on an 11-4 run to make it 18-12 with 2:46 left, Southern would respond in the last two minutes with layups from Lacy and Madi Stokes with a Hailey Grant steal and score to make it an 18-18 tie at the end of the quarter.
The second quarter would see six lead changes and four ties in the first five minutes before the Vikings opened up a three point lead, 32-29 following a Jewett free throw with 5:01 left. Southern would tie it up 37-37 with 2:13 remaining in the half thanks to a Topping layup before Augustana made a layup and converted a free throw to take a 40-37 lead going into the half.
For the first half the two teams exchanged 12 lead changes and tied it up seven times with neither team able to hold a lead larger than six over the other. Southern shot 37.5 percent from the field and 100.0 percent from free throws going 4-for-4 while the Vikings shot 44.4 percent from the field and 100.0 percent from free throws going 4-for-4.
Individually Lacy Stokes had 12 points and three assists, Amaya Johns had nine points and six rebounds and Layne Skiles had six points in the half. As a team the Lions had a halftime advantage over the Vikings in points in the paint 22-20, second chance points 12-4 and bench points 13-0.
Augustana (25-6, 18-4 NSIC) was led by Michaela Jewett with 27 points and seven rebounds.
In the first quarter the Vikings got out to a 7-3 lead early but a Johns three and Lacy Stokes jumper made it an 8-7 lead with 6:30 left. Augustana would reclaim the lead and go on an 11-4 run to make it 18-12 with 2:46 left, Southern would respond in the last two minutes with layups from Lacy and Madi Stokes with a Hailey Grant steal and score to make it an 18-18 tie at the end of the quarter.
The second quarter would see six lead changes and four ties in the first five minutes before the Vikings opened up a three point lead, 32-29 following a Jewett free throw with 5:01 left. Southern would tie it up 37-37 with 2:13 remaining in the half thanks to a Topping layup before Augustana made a layup and converted a free throw to take a 40-37 lead going into the half.
For the first half the two teams exchanged 12 lead changes and tied it up seven times with neither team able to hold a lead larger than six over the other. Southern shot 37.5 percent from the field and 100.0 percent from free throws going 4-for-4 while the Vikings shot 44.4 percent from the field and 100.0 percent from free throws going 4-for-4.
Individually Lacy Stokes had 12 points and three assists, Amaya Johns had nine points and six rebounds and Layne Skiles had six points in the half. As a team the Lions had a halftime advantage over the Vikings in points in the paint 22-20, second chance points 12-4 and bench points 13-0.
In the second half Augustana got out to a quick eight point lead, 45-37 with 9:05 left as the Lions got on the scoreboard with 8:24 left following a Lacy free throw and on the next possession a Hunnicutt three made it 45-41 with 7:36 remaining. Augustana got it up to 11, 58-47 with 2:53 left thanks to an Aislinn Duffy layup and would head to the fourth quarter up 59-50.
The fourth quarter would see the Vikings get a 12 point lead, 64-52 with 8:27 left for the largest lead of the game. Southern would begin the historic comeback with a Skiles three with 7:31 left before a Lacy Stokes layup and pair of free throws made it a seven point game 66-59 with 6:30 left.
With 4:02 left the Lions got it to a one possession game following a Lacy Stokes layup and a Hunnicutt three with 2:55 remaining made it a two point game, 70-68. Free throws by Johns and Lacy Stokes made it a two point game as a driving layup and-one by Lacy gave the Lions the lead 73-72 with 29.2 seconds left.
Following an Augustana timeout to advance the ball the Vikings made a layup with 15.3 second left to take a one point lead. The Lions would get a chance with 5.0 seconds left as Hunnicutt was fouled driving to the basket and made both of her free throws to take a 75-74 lead. Augustana called a timeout to advance the ball into the half court but after inbounding the ball tried to get it into the post but an alert Skiles jumped up and stole the entry pass to seal the dramatic victory.
This was the first regional tournament win for the program since beating Angelo State 75-72 in overtime on Mar. 11, 1994 in St. Joseph, Mo. With the win the Lions this season now have won the most games in a single-season with 28 beating the previous record set in the 1992-93 season that went 27-4.
Southern will play the winner of the Nebraska - Kearney vs. Pittsburg State matchup on Saturday Mar. 11th at 5:00pm from Romano Gymnasium in the Central Region Semifinals.
Career Stat Update
Layne Skiles - Passed Terri Haynes (1989-91) for second in made three pointers with 182.
Singles-Season Stat Update
Lacy Stokes - Moved past her total for assists last season for the second most assists with 175. Passed Pam Brisby (1980-81) and Anita Rank (86-87) for seventh in scoring with 576. Has made the 10th most field goals in a season to move past her total last year with 207.
Madi Stokes - Passed Anita Rank (1985-86) for sixth in rebounds with 294.
Regional Tournament Stat Update
Lacy Stokes - Broke the single-game regional tournament scoring record that was held by Rolanda Gladen vs. Washburn on Mar. 13, 1993 and Sonya Harlin vs. Angelo State on Mar. 11, 1994 with 28 points today.
Amaya Johns - Became the fifth Lion in program history to have a double-double in a regional tournament game and first since Marie Scott vs. West Texas A&M on Mar. 8, 1996.
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