Women's Basketball 01.26.16

On the Road Again...Lions Battle Northwest Missouri Wednesday Night

Women's Basketball 01.26.16

On the Road Again...Lions Battle Northwest Missouri Wednesday Night

Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Women close out a four game road swing Wednesday night at Northwest Missouri State. Tip off from Bearcat Arena is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

Last Time Out for The Lions (13-6, 7-6 MIAA)
St. Charles, Mo. – In her final game in her hometown senior Sharese Jones drained a pair of free throws with 24 seconds left to seal the 71-68 win over the Lindenwood Lady Lions Saturday afternoon inside Robert F. Hyland Arena.
Jones finished the game with 18 points as she passed both Erin Rice and MSSU Athletics Hall of Famer Katie (Gariss) Marsh for eight place on the all-time scoring list with 1,231 career points.
The Lions (13-6, 7-6 MIAA) outshot Lindenwood (7-12, 3-10) 49 percent (19-for-39) to 43 percent (20-for-47) for the game and 54 percent (7-for-13) to 39 percent (5-for-13) from three point range.
Sophomore Dru Clark got the scoring started on the third possession of the game as she connected from three point range off the assist from freshman Desirea Buerge. A three point play from Jones gave the Lions a 6-0 lead before Lindenwood scored on a jumper from Jenny Rocha. The bucket by Rocha sparked a 7-1 run by the Lady Lions to tie the game at 7-7. Following a pair of buckets by each team a pair of free throws from senior Tami Morice gave Southern an 11-9 lead. Junior Deb Holcomb hit her first three pointer with 3:24 left in the quarter to increase the Lions lead to 14-9. Those two buckets sparked a 11-5 run to close the quarter and give Southern a 20-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Coming out of the quarter break Lindenwood's Vanessa Zailo, playing in her second game back since a broken nose, cut the Southern lead to four at 20-16 before sophomore Jenson Maydew answered back with a three pointer and a jumper to expand the lead to nine at 25-16 with 8:07 left in the half. Holcomb's second three of the game came at the 4:35 mark and gave Southern its first double digit lead at 30-19. Lindenwood closed the half on an 8-4 run as they cut the Southern lead down to seven, 36-29, at the break.
Southern shot 46 percent (11-for-24) from the field in the first half including 71 percent (5-for-7) from three point range. Holcomb was a perfect 3-for-3 from long distance and Maydew went 4-for-4 from the field. Lindenwood shot 43 percent (12-for-28) from the field and went 2-for-6 from three point range. LU's leading scorer, Kassidy Gengenbacher, score 10 of Lindenwood's 29 first half points.
On the opening possession of the second half, Jones drove the lane for a lay-up off the assist from fellow senior Kenya Wilson-Brown. After a three pointer from Charisse Williams cut Southern's lead to six at 38-32, Jones once again answered with a lay-up this time off the assist from Clark. A pair of free throws from Clark pushed the Lions' lead back to double digits at 42-32 with 6:33 to play in the third. From there Lindenwood went on a 13-2 run to take a one point lead, 45-44, with 1:29 to play in the third. Southern closed the third out on a 5-0 run on a three point play and a three from Holcomb for the 50-45 lead after three quarters of play.
Lindenwood opened the final quarter of play with a three pointer from Kylie Ferguson to cut the lead to two at 50-48 before Morice answered with a layup off the assist from a driving Jones. A free throw from Jones made it 53-48 Southern before Jenny Rocha drained a running jumper to cut the lead back down to three at 53-50. Another layup from Jones pushed the lead back to five and Gengenbacher hit only one of two free throws on the next possession to give Southern a 55-51 lead. Wilson-Brown was fouled driving to the bucket and fell hard to the ground forcing freshman Chelsey Henry to enter the game and she promptly sank both free throws to make it a 57-51 Southern lead with 6:48 to play. Five made free throws later, four from Lindenwood and one from Southern, had the Green & Gold lead down to three at 58-55 with 5:46 to play before Buerge drained a three from the right wing off the assist from Clark. From there the teams traded free throws down the stretch. With just 24 seconds left in her final game in her hometown Jones stepped to the line with Southern up two 68-66 and sank both free throws to give them a 70-66 lead. Those two charities moved her past the hall of famer Katie (Gariss) Marsh for eighth place on the MSSU All-Time leading scorer list. A pair of free throws from LU's Jenny Rocha cut the lead to two at 70-68 and Southern's Clark sank one of two with 14 seconds left before Rocha's desperation three from the top of the key sailed right as the buzzer sounded for the 71-68 win for Southern.
Holcomb and Jones led all scorers with 18 points while Clark added 10 and Maydew nine. Rocha led Lindenwood with 18 herself with Gengenbacher adding 16 before fouling out and Kylie Ferguson contributing ten.
Five Lions pulled down four rebounds each as Southern out rebounded Lindenwood 29-20. Clark led Southern with five assists, one shy of her career mark set against Central Oklahoma and Fort Hays State this season.

Last Time Out for the Bearcats (3-16, 1-12 MIAA)
MARYVILLE, Mo. - For three quarters, Northwest Missouri State women's basketball team nearly matched the No. 3 team in the country point-for-point. The Bearcats entered the fourth quarter trailing by just three to Fort Hays State.
But Northwest gave up the next seven points at the start of the final quarter and never recovered from it, falling 61-46 to Hays Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Arena.
"We can play with anybody when we are locked in," Northwest interim head coach Buck Scheel said. "Defensively, for the most part, we played pretty solid."
The Bearcats showed plenty of fight late in the third quarter when it trailed 38-31. The game appeared to be slipping away when a basket by senior Tember Schechinger, followed by two free throws by junior Shelby Mustain, pulled Northwest to within three at 38-35 to close out the third period.
Hays junior Jill Faxon shifted the momentum back to Hays at the start of the fourth quarter with a three-pointer. Hays added two more baskets, which gave them a 45-35 lead.
"We just can't have that," said Schechinger of the three-pointer. "No matter what point in the game, we can't have that happen."
The 10-point deficit was too much for the Bearcats to overcome against a team that is holding opponents to 55.7 points per game.
"We were struggling to get into a flow," Scheel said. "We were getting looks, but we were passing up shooting opportunities and passing up post-entry opportunities. That's not how we've been playing. We were very passive on offense and that let to our turnovers."
Northwest didn't help its cause by turning the ball over 30 times compared to only nine turnovers for Hays. The Tigers also pulled down 15 offensive rebounds. That combination allowed Hays to take 23 more shots.
"Offensively, we were just giving them the ball and more opportunities and they were capitalizing on those opportunities," Scheel said. "Twenty-two points off of turnovers is going to hurt you."
The focus for the Bearcats shifts to their next game. They will play at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at home against Missouri Southern. It was at Southern on Dec. 9 that the Bearcats started to gain confidence in their ability with a five-point loss.
"The Missouri Southern game turned us around as a team," said Schechinger, who finished with her sixth double-double this season (13 points, 11 rebounds). "I think this is a game we can definitely get. If we don't get it, it is going to be a big deal."
Northwest played a gritty first half and went into halftime trailing only 27-23 against the highly-ranked Tigers.
The Bearcats showed their spunk late in the first quarter when they gave up six straight points and stared at a 13-7 deficit. Scheel called timeout. Northwest regrouped and scored the final five points in the first quarter and the first four points in the second quarter for a 16-13 lead.
Hays answered with the next six points to grab a three-point advantage. The Bearcats stayed close the rest of the second quarter, even pulling to 25-23 with less than a minute left in the quarter.
Both teams played solid defense. Northwest shot 37 percent from the field in the first half and Hays made 36 percent of its shots.
Schechinger played well in the first half for the Bearcats, making three of four shots from the field and pulling down five rebounds.

The Series
This is the 52nd meeting between Southern and Northwest Missouri. The Lions hold a 27-24 advantage in the series. Southern has a 16-8 record in Joplin, including an 11-5 record on Robert Corn Court inside The Leggett & Platt Athletic Center, while Northwest holds a 14-11 advantage in Maryville and a 2-0 advantage in Kansas City and a 3-0 overall advantage in the MIAA Post-Season Tournament. Southern won the first meeting this season 48-43 on December 9 in Joplin. The longest winning streak in the series for Southern is six games from Feb. 8, 1992 thru Jan. 25, 1995. Northwest Missouri answered with a six game stretch of their own Jan. 31, 1996 thru Feb. 6, 1999. The Lions have won nine of the last ten against Northwest Missouri, with the Bearcats lone win coming on March 5, 2013 in the first round of the MIAA Post-Season Tournament in Joplin. With a win in Maryville the Lions will tie their longest winning streak against the Bearcats.

Last Time vs. the Bearcats
Joplin, Mo. – Sharese Jones scored 14 points and Bri Shavers added 10 as the Missouri Southern women's basketball team won 48-43 over visiting Northwest Missouri tonight on Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
Southern (8-1, 2-1 MIAA) was led by Jones 14 points as the senior was 5-9 from the field and 3-4 from the free throw line. She added six rebounds. Shavers had a career-high with ten points on 5-8 shooting, while Kenya Wilson-Brown had seven points and a career-high eight rebounds to go along with five assists and four steals.
The Lions took a 6-5 lead after a layup from Wilson-Brown with 7:53 left in the first quarter. They led 12-5 after a Jones layup from Wilson-Brown, this time with 6:56 left to cap a 12-2 run.
The lead reached eight (17-9) after a jumper from Jones and Southern led 17-12 after one.
A pair of free throws for Northwest to start the second quarter cut the Lions' lead to just three (17-14), but a 8-2 run for Southern pushed the Lions' lead back up to nine (25-16) after back-to-back buckets from Kayla Kivinski. A pair of free throws from Desirea Buerge with 1:17 left in the half gave the Lions a 27-18 lead going into the locker room.
Wilson-Brown led the Lions in scoring, rebounds and assists with 7 points, five rebounds and four assists at the break.
The Bearcats cut the Lions' lead to just three (36-33) at the end of the third quarter, but Southern opened up the fourth on a 6-0 run to lead 42-33 with 8:29 left after a pair of Buerge free throws.
Southern led 46-43 with 30 seconds left in the game, but the Bearcats had the ball, however the Lions forced a turnover and Wilson-Brown made a pair of free throws to seal the win.
The Lions shot 31 percent from the field and 78 percent from the free throw line and forced 23 Northwest Missouri turnovers, scoring 19 points on the miscues. Southern had a 35-23 advantage on the boards, including a 14-2 advantage on the offensive boards, leading to a 17-0 lead in second-chance points.

The Coaches
Missouri Southern
Ronda Hubbard is in her 15th year on the staff at Missouri Southern and her third year at the helm. During her 15 years with the Lions, she has helped the team to a 242-164 record, including a 52-21 record in her first two plus seasons at the helm of the Lions program. Last season's 20 wins was the first time the women's team had won 20 games since the 1995-96 season.

Northwest Missouri
Buck Scheel comes to Northwest after three seasons as the top assistant at State Fair Community College (SFCC) in Sedalia. Scheel was given the title of interim head coach on December 16, 2015 in advance of the contest at Lincoln.

Probable Starters
Missouri Southern (13-6, 7-6 MIAA)
1 Dru Clark G 5-7 So. (Collinsville, Okla.)
11 Kenya Wilson-Brown G 5-5 Sr. (Arlington, Texas)
21 Desirea Buerge F 6-0 Fr. (Webb City, Mo.)
24 Deb Holcomb G 5-7 Jr. (Dallas, Texas)
44 Sharese Jones G 5-8 Sr. (St. Charles, Mo.)

Northwest Missouri (3-16, 1-12 MIAA)
11   Taylor Shull   G   5-8   Sr. (Mt. Pleasant, Iowa)
15   Tanya Meyer   F   5-10   So. (Sioux City, Iowa)
22   Tember Schechinger   G   5-10   Sr. (Manilla, Iowa)
34   Macy Williams   G   5-7   Fr. (Tabor, Iowa)
40   Jasmin Howe   G   5-8   Jr. (Millicent, Australia)

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