Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern women's basketball team got career nights from both Desirea Buerge and Jenson Maydew as the Lions took out 25^th ranked Fort Hays State tonight in front of more than 1,300 fans at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
 
Southern (4-4, 1-0 MIAA) wins against Fort Hays for just the first time in six tries and only the second time in the last ten meetings.
 
Buerge scored a career-high 18 points on 6-11 from the field, 1-2 from long-range and 5-5 from the free throw line. Maydew scored 16 points, just two off of her career-best, but rolled in a career-high three 3's, going 5-10 from the field, 3-4 from long-range and 3-6 from the free throw line, while adding a team-high eight boards. Deb Holcomb scored 13 points.
 
Hays (6-1, 0-1 MIAA) was led in scoring by Madison Mittie with 14 points.
 
The Lions started out hot as Southern opened up a 6-0 lead early on after a pair of freebies from Buerge with 8:22 left in the first quarter. The Lions lead reached seven (15-8) after a three from Maydew with 3:48 left in the quarter and a running jumper off the glass from Buerge as time expired in the quarter gave the Lions a 21-12 lead at the break. Buerge had eight points in the quarter.
 
A three pointer from Holcomb started the second quarter and the Lions' lead was 14 (30-16) after a layup from Buerge with 8:04 left in the quarter. A three from Bramer made the score 33-16 with 6:42 to go and a three-point play from Buerge gave the Lions a 17-point lead (38-17) with 1:49 to go in the quarter.
 
The lead at the break would be 15 (39-24). Buerge had 13 points at the break, while Holcomb had nine, going 4-5 from the field.
 
A three pointer from Buerge with 6:40 to go in the third pushed the Lions to a 20-point lead (47-27 and a layup from Maydew with 3:31 left in the quarter pushed the lead to 21 (52-31). Another layup from Maydew as time expired in the third gave the Lions a 57-38 lead after three.
 
A three from the Tigers' Mittie with 8:22 left in the fourth cut the Lions' lead to 15 (59-45, but a three from Maydew pushed it back to 18 with 6:58 to go in the game.
 
With just two seconds left on the shot clock, the Lions ran an out of bounds play where Henry caught and shot a pass in the lane to make the score 70-54 with 2:11 left on the clock. The Lions' lead reached 17 twice more on free throws from Bramer, but an 8-2 run by the Tigers to close the game made the final Lions' lead 11.
 
The Lions shot 52 percent from the field and made 50 percent of their three-pointers and 71 percent from the free throw line.
 
Southern will be back in action this Saturday with a 1:00 pm matchup with Nebraska-Kearney.