Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern women's basketball team utilized a 28-13 second quarter and cruised to an 86-70 victory over visiting Evangel on
Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center today.
Southern (8-5) was led offensively by
Deb Holcomb as the senior scored 19 points on 6-11 shooting from the field and 6-7 from the free throw line.
Chelsey Henry scored 17 points and added ten rebounds for the double-double, while
Desirea Buerge had 14 points and seven boards.
Julianna Wadsworth added nine points, while
Jasmine Green and
Amelia Bramer scored eight points each.
Evangel (4-7) was led by 14 points from Allison Swanson and ten points from Madi Johnson.
Evangel jumped out to an 11-8 lead with 5:51 left in the first and led 14-10 with 3:33 to go, but the Lions went on a 7-2 run to take a 17-16 lead with 1:40 to go after a pair of freebies from Buerge.
A turnaround jumper from Buerge the next trip down the court gave the Lions a 19-16 lead which would prove to be the final basket of the quarter. Southern shot 78 percent from the field in the first and 75 percent from long-range.
The Missouri Southern run reached 15-0 as a layup from
Chelsey Henry with 6:43 left gave the Lions a 28-16 lead in the second quarter. Southern ended the half on a 31-13 run and led 47-29 at the break. The Lions shot 69 percent from the field in the half and 58 percent from long-range, making every one of their free throws.
Southern increased its lead to 20 three times before a layup from
Shannon Mitchell with 5:14 left made the score 57-35. The lead was 20 again (60-40), but Evangel closed the third quarter on a 6-2 run as the Lions led 62-46 after three.
Evangel got to within ten points (70-60) with 5:31 to go in the game after a pair of free throws from Paige Patterson, but a quick 4-0 run from Holcomb pushed the Lions' lead back to 14 (74-60).
The Lions held a 36-28 lead on the boards, and a 44-28 advantage in the paint. Southern also had a 14-6 lead in fast-break points.
Southern will be back in action on January 5 as the Lions travel to Northwest Missouri. Tip off from Maryville is slated for 5:30 pm.
