Quincy, Ill. - The Missouri Southern Women's Basketball team salvaged a Thanksgiving weekend split as they defeated host Quincy University 59-54 Sunday afternoon inside the Pepsi Arena.

Southern (3-4) led from the opening minute all the way into the quarter break for only the second lead of the season after the first quarter, the only other opening period lead was 24-19 over Truman and that turned into a 94-88 win. Sophomore Desirea Buerge started the Lions off with a free throw at the 9:02 mark and fellow sophomore Chelsey Henry added another charity 30 seconds later to build the first 2-0 lead. Quincy (1-5) tied the game at 2-2 on their next possession on a layup from Cha Cha Williams, but Southern retook the lead on a second chance three pointer from Buerge and pushed their lead to 7-2 on a jumper from sophomore Shannon Mitchell. The Hawks answered right back with a 5-0 run of their own to tie the game at 7-7 with just under six minutes to play in the opening frame. Junior Julianna Wadsworth gave the Lions the lead again with a three just seconds after the tie. After a scoreless three minutes the drought was broken by senior Deb Holcomb with a jumper in the paint to give Southern the 12-7 lead. Quincy closed the quarter with back-to-back buckets to cut the Lions' lead down to one at 12-11.

After getting a stop on Quincy's first possession of the second quarter, Mitchell found junior Jenson Maydew cutting through the lane for a layup to make it 14-11. The Hawks tied the game with a three pointer and after a bucket from junior Jasmine Green gave Southern a 16-14 lead another three for Quincy gave the Hawks their first lead of the game at 17-16 with 8:19 until halftime. A pair of free throws from Maydew regained the lead for the Lions and jumper from Maydew made it a three point lead, 20-17, with just over seven minutes to play. A layup from Quincy's Alexa Low cut the lead down to one, but Southern answered back with an 8-2 run to take a seven point lead, 28-21, before a buzzer beater three pointer from the Hawks made it 28-24 at the break.

The Lions shot 10-for-32 from the field in the opening half while Quincy finished 9-for-27. Southern held the rebounding advantage over the Hawks 22-19 as Mitchell and junior Bri Shavers-McNeace led the Lions with three each. Buerge and Maydew led Southern's scoring attack with six points each while Wadsworth added five.

Quincy opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run to take their second lead of the game, 31-28 with just over 7:30 left in the quarter. Southern stopped the run when senior Amelia Bramer found a cutting Mitchell for a layup to make it 31-30 Quincy. After the Hawks pushed their lead back to three, 33-30, a free throw from the Lions' Henry made it a two point ball game with 6:51 left on the clock. After another three scoreless minutes of play, junior Kayla Kivinski ended the drought with a three pointer which also gave Southern the 34-33 lead back. After the teams traded a pair of buckets, Wadsworth dialed it up from long distance to give Southern a four point lead, 39-35, with just under two minutes left in the period. Both teams traded buckets after that as well giving Southern the 41-37 lead headed into the final quarter.

After a missed jumper on the Lions' opening possession of the fourth, Green blocked a Quincy shot that started a fast break that ended with Henry finding Maydew to make it a six point ball game. Following a Hawks turnover, Holcomb drove the lane and pulled up for a jumper to give Southern an eight point lead, 45-37, with 8:52 left in the game. After two minutes of scoreless basketball Wadsworth found Green cutting to the hoop to give the Lions their largest lead of the day at 47-37 with 6:52 left. Quincy answered with a 4-0 run to cut the lead down to six but Maydew halted that with a pair of free throws to push the lead back to eight. A 5-0 Hawks run made it a three point contest, but Buerge stepped out to drain a three off the assist from Holcomb to push the lead back to six, 52-46, with just under three minutes to play.  Quincy cut the lead down to two, 52-50, before Holcomb found space in the paint for a jumper to make it 54-50. After four free throws from Bramer, a pair with 31 ticks and another with 16 seconds left, made it 58-53 and a free throw from Wadsworth with six seconds sealed the 59-54 win.

For the game Southern finished 20-for-59, 33.9 percent, from the floor while the Hawks shot just 35.6 percent, 21-for-59. Both teams pulled down 40 rebounds, while the Lions forced Quincy into 16 turnovers and committed just 11 themselves. Maydew led Southern with 10 points while Wadsworth and Buerge each added nine and Henry finished with eight. Henry also led Southern on the boards with eight and Maydew collected four.

Southern will return home this week to open MIAA play as they welcome Fort Hays State into The Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. Tip off for the women's game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and live stats, audio, and video links can be found at mssulions.com.