MSSU women's basketball adds Division One transfer

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

Missouri Southern Women's Basketball head coach Ronda Hubbard has announced the signing of NCAA D-I transfer BriAnna (Bri) Shavers.

"Bri is going to be a tremendous addition to our post core," Hubbard said. "We have a young group in the power forward and center positions and look forward to watching them all grow together over the next few years. Bri will bring strength and versatility to our team that will be needed right away. Her experience at the D1 level will be beneficial to her transition into the ever so tough MIAA.

"Bri has a strong, athletic body and we expect her to make an immediate impact to our rebounding and back to the basket game while also being able to face up with her midrange game. We are ecstatic to welcome Bri to our Lion family."

Shavers comes to Joplin from the University of New Orleans where she saw action in 22 games as a red-shirt freshman after sitting out 2013-14 due to an injury. She played 131 minutes in those 22 contests pulling down 33 rebounds with three steals and three blocks.

A native of Carrollton, Texas, Shavers prepped at Creekview HS for coach Nikke Heath. She averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds during her senior season earning first team All-District and academic All-District honors to go along with second team All-State honors. During her junior season, she was named all-academic and was a honorable mention all-district selection.

Shavers is the daughter of Anna McNeace and has one brother, Jeffery Shavers.

MSSU baseball wins opening round game at MIAA tourney

(From MSSU Lions Athletics News)

The 15th ranked Missouri Southern baseball team picked up another complete-game from Cody Hutchinson and the offense broke out for five runs in the seventh as the #1 seed Lions took out #8 seed Northeastern State 8-1 in the opening game of their MIAA Tournament first-round series.

Hutchinson went the distance for his seventh complete game of the season and moved his record to 10-0 as the Lions (37-11) went up one game to none in the best-of-three series with the RiverHawks (25-23).

NSU got on the board first when an error on a stolen base attempt allowed Gabriel Wurth to reach third. Wurth later scored on an RBI single from Charles Simms.

Hutchinson then settled down and held NSU scoreless from then on.

The Lions tied the game in the fourth on an RBI sacrifice fly from Axel Johnson scoring Evin Natick. But Southern broke the game open in the seventh when the Lions scored five runs. Tee Helsel homered to lead off the inning and after Richie Gorski walked, Jon Davis doubled to the left center wall to score Gorski.

Natick singled home Chris Hoffman and Jon Davis to put the Lions up 4-1 and a bases-loaded walk to Helsel drove in Jacob Bryant with the fifth run of the inning.

Jesse Rall and Bryant had RBIs in the eighth as Southern put two more runs on the board.

Helsel went 2-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Natick drove in two and scored once, while Davis and Hoffman scored two runs each.

The Lions and RiverHawks will be back in action tomorrow evening, as they continue their best-of-three series. First pitch from Turner Field is slated for 6 pm.

MSSU women's track to compete at MIAA

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern women's track and field team will head to St. Charles this weekend as the Lions compete in the 2015 MIAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Lindenwood University.

The Lions finished fourth in the 2014 Championships and are currently ranked 9th in the Central Region.

Southern goes into the meet with 12 provisional marks, four of which would most likely qualify for nationals if the season ended today.

Leading the way for the Lions is Kindra Emberton. She currently ranks 7th in the 800m, while Melanie Bowerranks 7th in the pole vault. Ashleigh McFarland ranks 29th in the vault.

Brittani Reagan and Kaylee Morgan rank 12th and 20th, respectively in the long jump, while Emily Harris ranks 23rd in the 1,500m and 29th in the 5k. Kaitlyn Belisle ranks 27th in the 10k, while Allie Webb ranks 32nd in the discus.

Victoria Foley ranks 47th in the hammer, while Morgan ranks 36th in the heptathlon.

Morgan will start things off for the Lions as the heptathlon kicks off at 2:30 pm on Friday afternoon. The rest of the meet will be run on Saturday and Sunday.