Emporia, Kan. - Missouri Southern sophomore Chelsey Henry sinks the game winner with 3.3 seconds left to lift the Lions over Oklahoma Baptist 83-81 Saturday evening at William L. White Auditorium.

Missouri Southern started the scoring in the opening quarter with a layup from junior Kayla Kivinski before Tasha Edge of Oklahoma Baptist drained a three on the next possession for the early 3-2 lead. Both teams went scoreless for the next two minutes before senior Deb Holcomb slashed through the paint for a 4-3 lead. Oklahoma Baptist answered again on their next possession on a layup by Katy Custer before Holcomb gave Southern the lead back again at 6-5 with 6:58 left in the first. OBU used a 6-2 run to take an 11-8 lead with 4:23 left and then expanded their lead to 22-12 after an 11-2 run before senior Amelia Bramer drained a shot from downtown with 14 seconds remaining to make it 22-15 after the first quarter.

Oklahoma Baptist opened the second quarter with a layup from Aliyah White before a three from Kivinski cut the lead down to six at 24-18. A layup from sophomore Desirea Buerge cut the lead down to 24-20 before OBU answered with a three from Edge to push the lead back to seven, 27-20. A small 4-0 spurt with another layup from Buerge and a pair of free throws from Bramer made it 27-24 with 6:18 left in the half before a three pointer from Custer expanded the Bison lead to 34-20. Edge sank a pair of free throws with 3:52 left in the half to give OBU a 36-29 advantage before a 4-0 run, a pair of free throws from each Henry and junior Bri Shavers-McNeace made it 36-33 Oklahoma Baptist with just under three minutes to play in the second quarter. A layup from Custer with 1:05 left on the clock gave the Bison a 38-33 lead before a free throw from Kivinski and another from Bramer made it 38-35 OBU headed into the locker room.

Southern shot 34.5 percent, 10-for-29, from the field in the opening half including going 3-for-10 from three point range while Oklahoma Baptist finished the opening half at 54.2 percent, 13-for-24, and went 5-for-8 from downtown. Edge led all scorers with 11 in the opening half while Henry led Southern with seven points. Senior Deb Holcomb, Kivinski, and Bramer each added six points for the Lions, while Shavers-McNeace led all players with four rebounds.

OBU opened the third quarter with a jumper from White to push their lead to five 40-35 before junior Jenson Maydew connected from long distance to make it a two point ball game at 40-38. A jumper from Kivinski tied the game at 40-40 with 8:44 left in the third quarter and the Bison answered with a mini 4-0 run of their own to make it 44-40 with 7:59 left in the third. Buerge connected on a layup in the paint before OBU's Lexi Williams drained a three to make it 47-42 bad guys at the 7:21 mark. OBU added another two points, a layup from Custer, a minute and half later to give them a seven point advantage at 49-42. Back-to-back three pointers from Henry made it a one point game at 49-48 with 5:09 left in the third and a pair of free throws from Maydew gave Southern their first second half lead of the night at 50-49 with 3:14 on the clock. After a layup from Bison's Cameerah Graves gave OBU the lead back at 51-50. Junior Julianna Wadsworth gave the game its third tie of the third quarter at 51-51 after sinking a free throw at the 2:41 mark. Oklahoma Baptist used a 5-2 run to open a 56-53 lead with 1:48 left in the quarter before a jumper in the paint by Henry and a free throw from Shavers-McNeace tied the game for the fourth time in the third quarter at 56-56. A fast break layup from Graves with under a minute left to play in the quarters gave the Bison a 58-56 lead. A pair of charities from Henry with four ticks left on the clock tied the for the fifth time in the third quarter at 58-58.

OBU's Mackenzie Cooper drove the lane for a bucket to open the fourth quarter before back-to-back threes from Bramer and Maydew gave Southern a three point lead at 64-61. Another driving layup from Cooper cut the lead down to one at 64-63 before a charity from Buerge gave the Lions a 65-63 lead. A fast break layup from White tied it for OBU at 65-65 with 6:50 to play. Another layup from Custer gave the Bison the lead back at 67-65 before a three from Bramer shifted the one point lead back to Southern at 68-67 with just over four and a half minutes to play. A 4-0 run, all from White, made it 71-68 in favor of Oklahoma Baptist with 3:50 left on the clock before another three from Bramer tied the game at 71-71 with 3:39 left. Buerge sank a driving layup to give Southern the 73-71 lead and a three from Bramer, her third of the quarter, made it 76-71 with just over three minutes to play. On the next possession, OBU dialed one up from downtown to cut the Southern lead down to two at 76-74 before Holcomb slashed to the bucket and Bramer's fourth three of the fourth quarter made it 81-74 with just over two minutes to play. A 7-0 run by OBU capped off by a pair of free throws from Cooper tied the game yet again at 81-81 with 29 seconds left to play. After a pair of 30 second time outs by the Lions, Henry drained the eventual game winner with 3.3 seconds left as a three pointer from OBU's Edge fell short as time expired.

For the game, the Lions shot 41.3 percent, 26-for-63, from the field including 12-for-27 from three point range and they out rebounded Oklahoma Baptist 33-29. Bramer led all scorers with 21 points, while Henry added 19 and Maydew chipped in 10. Custer led the Bison with 20 points and both Edge and White added 17 each. 

Southern will be back in action Sunday at 2 p.m. as they face Southwestern Oklahoma State University in their final game of the 2016 MIAA/GAC Challenge hosted by Emporia State University.