Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Lions turned the ball over 31 times and Abby Henry provided a game-high 27 points to lead the Northwest Missouri Bearcats to a 75-67 win over the Lions Wednesday evening (Jan. 20) at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

The Lions trailed by 11 at the 15:57 mark of the second half but used an 8-2 run to trim the deficit to five on a layup by LaTice Jones.

Southern continued to trail by five at 52-47 when the Bearcats out-scored the Lions 9-3 over the next 2:30 to again go up by double-digits with 9:56 remaining.

Michelle Hedgecock split a pair of free-throws and Erin Rice and Jolea Apon each connected from three-point distance to help bring the Lions to within seven with 6:28 left. 

But's that's as close as the Lions could get as Henry scored six points to lead an 8-1 spurt that made it 72-58 in favor of the Bearcats with four minutes left.

Apon opened the game with a three and the Lions built an early 7-3 advantage 4:15 into the first half.

The Bearcats answered with a 7-3 run of their own to tie the score, but Jones and Jasmine Lovejoy each hit layups and Apon nailed another trey as the Lions scored seven straight to again lead by seven with 11:31 left in the opening half.

The game of seven-point runs continued as the Bearcats (10-7, 6-4 MIAA) ripped off seven straight that was capped by a three-point play by Henry that knotted the score at 19-19.

The score was again tied at 26-26 when the Bearcats closed the first half on an 9-2 run to take a 35-28 lead into the break.  The Lions (10-7, 4-6 MIAA) were hurt by six turnovers during that stretch. 

Apon led three Lions in double-figures with 15 points and hit 5-of-10 from three-point distance.  Lovejoy scored 13 and Rice added 11 along with tying for a team-high seven rebounds.  Hedgecock also recorded seven boards.

Henry's 27 points came on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 10-of-11 from the free-throw line.  Shelly Martin also scored in double-figures with 16 points. 

The Lions provided a solid effort on the boards, out-rebounding the Bearcats 44-29 overall with a 17-8 edge on the offensive glass. 

The Lions will now play play at Truman State on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 23) at 1:30 p.m. in Kirksville, Mo.  The Lions have won the past four meetings over TSU, including winning earlier this season (12-2-09) 79-65 in Joplin.