Joplin, Mo. - Jolea Apon tied her career-high with 28 points as the Missouri Southern Lions pulled away for a 79-65 win over the Truman State Bulldogs in the MIAA opener for both schools Wednesday evening (Dec. 2) at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

The Bulldogs had trimmed an 11-point second half deficit down to five on a three by Laura Joya that made it 66-61 with 4:26 remaining.

From there the Lions put the clamps down defensively and scored the next 10 points to take a commanding 76-61 lead with just 2:33 left.

Apon nailed a three and Jasmine Lovejoy made a pair of layups to fuel the deciding surge.

After the Bulldogs scored the game's first four points, Apon and Danielle Harris each scored five points to spark a 10-2 run that put the Lions ahead 10-6.

The Bulldogs (3-3, 0-1 MIAA) hung around and took a 20-19 lead on a jumper by Sarah Seberger with nine minutes remaining in the first half.

Apon then scored the game's next nine points on three treys that put the Lions up 28-20 at the 6:07 mark of the first half.

A three by Afton Baldwin gave the Lions their first double-digit lead of the half at 33-22 when Cassie Hunt made a layup and converted a three-point play to help the Bulldogs close out the first half on a 12-5 run to close within 38-34 at the half.

Lovejoy hit back-to-back buckets as the Lions (5-1, 1-0 MIAA) opened the second half on a 10-4 spurt to lead 50-40 at the 15:42 mark.

Apon hit eight threes in the game, only one shy of the MSSU single-game record. Her eight threes and 10 field goals are both career-highs. Lovejoy produced her first career double-double with 20 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Randi Henderson led the Lions with a game-high six assists.

Joya led the Bulldogs (3-3, 0-1 MIAA) with 20 points on 8-of-12 from the field. Seberger scored 10 with a team-high eight boards.

The Lions out-rebounded the Bulldogs 37-32 overall and 22-18 on the defensive glass.

The Lions will now hit the road for a matchup at Central Missouri on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 5) at 1:30 p.m. in Warrensburg, Mo. The Lions and UCM split the regular season meetings last year before the Lions defeated the Jennies 62-57 at the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City, Mo.