Joplin, Mo. - Five Missouri Southern Women's Basketball players scored in double figures as the Lions beat Livin' The Dream 108-74 in an exhibition game inside The Leggett & Platt Athletic Center on Robert Corn Court.

Southern was led by senior Deb Holcomb with 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting including 3-for-6 from three point range. Sophomore Chelsey Henry added 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting and went 6-for-7 from the charity stripe while junior Kayla Kivinski added 19 points, missing only one field goal (8-for-9) on the night, and went 3-for-4 from three point range. Freshman Sydney Offield, making her Green & Gold debut, finished with 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting while junior transfer Julianna Wadsworth finished with 11 points on 5-for-7 from the field.

The first two minutes of the game went back and forth as the Lions battled LTD before a three pointer from Kivinski gave Southern a two point lead with 8:06 left in the quarter and the Lions never looked back. The lead ballooned to 14, 26-12,on a pair of free throws from Henry with 3:33 left in the quarter. LTD trimmed the lead down to eight, 28-20, with 1:04 left in the quarter on a layup from former Southern player Tami Morice but a driving Henry sank a layup with three seconds left to make it 30-20 after the opening quarter.

In the second quarter the Lions went on an 11-2 run capped off by a three pointer from Wadsworth with 4:57 left in the half to blow the game wide open at 48-28. After a pair of free throws from former Lions Camila Lacerda and Shawnee Phillips cut the lead back to 16 a jumper from junior Jenson Maydew quickly pushed the lead back to 18 at 50-32 with 3:12 to play in the half. Southern went into the locker room with a 55-37 lead after a three point play from Henry with 39 seconds left on the clock.

For the half Southern shot 59 percent (23-for-39) from the floor including a 6-for-15 (40 percent) performance from beyond the arc while forcing LTD into 14 turnovers. Kivinski led Southern's offensive attack with 11 points while Offield added ten. LTD shot 55.6 percent (15-for-27) from the field for the opening half while going 0-for-4 from three point range. Jasmine Thompson, former Central Missouri Jennie, led all scorers with 12.

Southern opened the third quarter on a 7-2 run that pushed the lead up to 23, 62-39, on a layup from Kivinski with 7:43 left on the clock, but Livin' The Dream would trim the lead down to 19 three times before a three pointer from senior Amelia Bramer put the Lions up by 22, 73-51, with 3:39 left in the quarter. Southern closed the quarter on an 8-0 run that consisted of a layup from sophomore Desirea Buerge and six points from Henry for an 81-53 lead after three quarters of play.

After no score in the opening minute of the final quarter former Lion Shawnee Phillips hit the back end of a pair of free throws to make it a 27 point ball game at 81-54. Offield answered with a pair of charities of her own and a jumper from Henry made it the largest Southern lead of the night to that point, 31 points, at 85-54. After a layup from former Southern post player Shonte Clay with 4:18 left cut the lead to 29 at 95-66 the Lions answered with a jumper from Maydew and a three pointer from Holcomb to put the Lions over the century mark, 100-66, with 3:02 to play. Southern then went on an 8-4 run to give them their largest lead of the game at 38, 108-70, with just over a minute to play. LTD closed the game with four free throws from Thompson to make it 108-74.

For the game Southern shot 55.6 percent (45-for-81) from the field including 9-for-25 from three point range while forcing LTD into 20 turnovers. LTD finished 28-for-55 (50.9 percent) from the field and was 3-for-13 from downtown.

Southern will open their regular season this weekend as they travel to Emporia State for the GAC/MIAA Challenge at William L. White Auditorium. Southern will play Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and Southwestern Oklahoma State on Sunday at 2 p.m.