Joplin, Mo. -The road woes continued Monday night for the Tigers of Fort Hays State University (6-7, 3-6 MIAA) as the Missouri Southern Lions (8-5, 6-3 MIAA) defeated the Tigers 59-57 in overtime at The Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
Sophomore forward Erin Rice led all players recording 25 points, while senior guard Afton Baldwin added a career high 18 for Southern.
Senior guard Jasmine Lovejoy and senior forward LaTice Jones pulled down 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
The Lions got off to a slow start shooting 17.1 percent on 6-of-35 in the first half, but increased their shooting percentage and offensive out put with each stanza shooting 11-of-29 for 37.9 percent in the second half and 4-of-4 for 100 percent in overtime.
After trailing 25-15 at halftime, Southern trailed by as much as 14 points before going on a 17-0 run to take a three point lead, 38-35. The game would then see three more ties before a lay-up with 52 seconds remaining in regulation was made by Traci Keyser of Fort Hays to send the game to the extra period.
In the extra frame the Lions and Tigers were tied another four times, before Rice hit the game winning shot with 1.9 seconds left on an in-bounds play triggered by Baldwin.
Sophomore guard Kelby Fritz recorded five assists to lead all players in that category.
The Lions will take this Wednesday off before going to Omaha, Nebraska to take on the Mavericks on Saturday afternoon with tip off scheduled at 1:30 PM and then head to Maryville, Missouri to take on the Bearcats of Northwest Missouri on Monday, tipoff for that tilt is scheduled for 5:30 PM. The Lions will then return to the friendly confines of The Leggett & Platt Athletic Center on Saturday January 22 as they host the Bulldogs of Truman State University with a 1 pm tip.
