(From Missouri Southern Sports)Duluth, Minn. - The 18th ranked Missouri Southern women's basketball program played in the NCAA Central Region Tournament Championship game at Romano Gymnasium, losing in heartbreaking fashion 77-76 to #6 Minnesota - Duluth.
The Lions (29-7, 16-6 MIAA) were led by Lacy Stokes with 22 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for her third career double-double. Kryslyn Jones had 18 points going 2-for-4 from three and 4-for-4 from free throws, Madi Stokes had 13 points going 5-for-7 from the field as Layne Skiles had 12 points going 2-for-4 from three. Amaya Johns led the bench unit with seven points and five rebounds in 11 minutes.
Minnesota - Duluth (28-3, 21-1 NSIC) was by Brooke Olson with 21 points and 13 rebounds and Ella Gilbertson with 21 points off the bench.
As a team the Lions had the advantage over the Bulldogs in field goal percentage 44.3 - 43.3, three point percentage 31.6 - 31.0, free throws made 16-10. rebounds 35 - 33, fast break points 8 - 3 and points in the paint 38 - 34.
Southern jumped out to an early 9-5 lead following a Madi Stokes layup with 7:10 left in the first quarter and following two made baskets by UMD went on a 10-2 run to open up an 19-11 lead with 1:09 left following a Skiles layup. To end the quarter the Bulldogs sank a corner three with a little under two seconds left to cut it to 19-14. In the first quarter Jones led the Lions with seven points, Layne Skiles had five points and Amaya Johns had three points and two rebounds.
In the second quarter UMD got it to within three twice in the first two minutes but an 11-2 run by the Lions made it 35-23 with 3:08 left following a Mira Khan layup with Lacy Stokes picking up her third assist of the half. Southern would finish off the half with a 10-4 run making it 45-27 lead heading into the half following a pair of Madi Stokes free throws with 1.7 seconds left. For the second quarter Madi Stokes led the team with six points with Layne Skiles, Kryslyn Jones and Lacy Stokes each scoring five points.
At halftime the Lions were shooting 50.0 percent from the field, 42.9 percent from three and 83.3 percent from free throws while holding the Bulldogs to 35.7 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from three. Southern had a 10-2 advantage in points off turnovers, 20-10 in points in the paint, 9-7 in second chance points and 4-0 in fast break points. Individually leading the way was Jones with 12 points going 5-for-7 from the field and 2-for-2 from three, Layne Skiles had 10 points going 4-for-6 from the field and 2-for-4 from three with Madi Stokes scoring eight points going 3-for-4 from the field and made both of her free throws.
The third quarter would see the Lions get the lead up to 20 twice in the first two minutes as an 11-2 run by UMD made it an 11 point game with 3:53 left in the quarter. By the end of the quarter the Southern lead was 10, 57-47 following a Lacy Stokes driving layup with around seven seconds left ensuring a double-digit lead heading into the fourth quarter. In the third quarter Jones, Madi and Lacy Stokes each had four points with Jones and Lacy converting on a pair of free throws for the teams lone trips to the free throw line in the quarter.
To begin the fourth quarter Lacy Stokes scored eight straight points for the Lions to force a Bulldogs timeout with 6:35 left up 65-51. UMD responded with a 10-2 run to make it an eight point game, 69-61 with 2:31 remaining and set the stage for a dramatic finish. With 1:24 left the Lions had a 74-66 advantage following made free throws by Jones, Madi and Lacy Stokes as an Olson three on the following possession with 1:11 remaining made it a five point game, 74-69.
Following a made free throw by Lacy Stokes with 55.1 seconds left the Bulldogs called a timeout to advance the ball into the half-court and made a three pointer with 42.6 seconds left, the Lions were able to get the ball inbounded and were fouled with 40.6 seconds left with Mia Topping making a free throws for a 76-72 lead. A second chance layup by the Bulldogs made it a two point game with 31.0 seconds left and following a jump ball in favor of the hosts with 29.4 seconds left and a three with 15.3 seconds remaining a 77-76 lead.
The Lions called a timeout to advance the ball into the half-court and were able to get off two shots before the final buzzer but couldn't convert on either attempt.
This season the Lions won a school record 29 game, won their first MIAA Tournament since 1996 and made their first Regional Championship game appearance since 1994, broke 11 team records beginning with points scored in a season, three pointers made and attempted, defensive rebounds, blocks, wins in a season, neutral site wins in a season, points scored in the first, second, third and fourth quarters.
We wish the three seniors, Amaya Johns, Cameron Call and Layne Skiles the best in their future endeavors and congratulate them on successful careers wearing the Green and Gold. Call played in 58 games over two years with the Lions after transferring from Illinois State and finished with 194 points, 73 rebounds, 48 made three pointers and 36 assists. Johns played in 88 games over three years with the Lions after transferring from Frank Phillips College and finished with 804 points, 382 rebounds, 151 made free throws, 66 made three pointers and 53 steals. Skiles played in 148 games over five years with the Lions and finished with 1,072 points, 527 rebounds, 187 three pointers made, 179 free throws made, 179 assists, 102 steals and 78 blocks.
Season Stat Update
Lacy Stokes - Finished second in assists with 186, moved into fourth in scoring with 623 and tied for fourth in field goals made with 223, sixth for steals with 88, sixth for assists per game with 5.2, seventh in free throws made and attempted going 140-for-186.
Madi Stokes - Finished first in blocks with 72, moved into third for blocks per game at 2.0 and fourth for rebounds with 302
Career Stat Update
Lacy Stokes - Third for assists with 189, fourth for assists with 360, fifth for free throws made and attempted going 303-for-413, seventh for field goals attempted with 1,064 and 10th in scoring with 1,235.
Layne Skiles - First in games played with 148, second in three pointers made with 187, third in three pointers attempted with 501, sixth in blocks with 79, eighth in three point percentage at .373 and 15th in scoring with 1,072.
Madi Stokes - First in blocks with 203, third in rebounds with 920 and sixth for games played with 115.
The Missouri Southern women's basketball season is presented by People's Bank of Seneca, a proud supporter of Lion Athletics.
No comments:
Post a Comment