Joplin, Mo. – Central Oklahoma out scored Missouri Southern 27-20 in the fourth quarter and 10-8 in the overtime period and the Lions fell to the Bronchos 81-79 tonight in overtime on Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
 
Southern (6-1, 0-1 MIAA) was led by 24 points on 6-9 shooting from Sharese Jones. She went 4-4 from long range and 8-8 from the free throw line, adding a career-high 15 rebounds. Jenson Maydew scored 18 points, while Dru Clark added 13.
 
UCO (5-0, 1-0 MIAA) was led by 19 points from Bailey Taylor as she went 5-7 from long-range. Julia Mason scored 17, while McKenzie Solberg added 15 and Marley Anderson scored 16.
 
The Bronchos opened up the first quarter on an 11-5 run, but an 8-0 run by the Lions, with back-to-back three's from Jones and Clark propelled the Lions to a 13-11 lead with 2:16 to go in the quarter. A free throw from Clark with 26 seconds to go gave the Lions a 17-16 lead at the end of one.
 
A three from the Bronchos' Marley Anderson with 6:19 in the second gave UCO a 21-19 lead and a layup from Anderson with 5:09 left made the UCO lead 25-21. A three from Clark cut the Bronchos' lead to just three (31-28) at the half.
 
Clark and Jenson Maydew led the Lions with seven points in the half, while Jones and Bri Shavers had five each.
 
Back-to-back three's from Jones and Deb Holcomb to start the third quarter lofted the Lions to a 34-31 lead just 45 seconds off the clock and forced a Central Oklahoma timeout. A jumper from Shavers with 4:30 left in the quarter gave the Lions a 43-37 lead and a three from Clark with 1:14 left gave the Lions a 46-41 lead. A three from Maydew as time expired in the third made the score 51-44.
 
A bucket in the paint from Jones with 5:59 left in the fourth pushed the Lions' lead up to 12 (62-50). A barrage of three's from UCO, however, tied the game at 69 with just over a minute to go. A bucket from Maydew off an assist from Clark with 45 seconds to go, gave the Lions a 71-69 lead, but a pair of freebies the next trip down tied the game again and forced overtime.
 
Both teams traded baskets early in the overtime period, before a big block from Holcomb led to a free throw for her to put the Lions up 77-76 with just over two minutes to go. UCO led 78-77 with 27 seconds to go and the Lions, with the ball, called a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Holcomb hit a driving basket to put the Lions up 79-78 with 16 seconds left.
 
UCO got a running layup from Julia Mason with 3.7 seconds left and she was fouled. She hit the free-throw to put the Bronchos up 81-79 and the Lions called timeout. On the ensuing play, Southern turned the ball over and the Bronchos came away with the come-from-behind win.
 
The Lions shot 50 percent from the field and 55 percent from long range, while UCO shot 41 percent from the field and 40 percent from behind the arc. The Bronchos, however made 81 percent of their free throws to give them the edge.
 
Southern will be back in action on Saturday as the Lions play host to Northeastern State. Tip off is slated for 1 pm.