Women's Basketball 02.13.16

Women's Basketball Set to Take on 5th Ranked Fort Hays State

Women's Basketball 02.13.16

Women's Basketball Set to Take on 5th Ranked Fort Hays State

Joplin, Mo. - Missouri Southern Women's Basketball (16-8, 10-8 MIAA) hosts fifth ranked Fort Hays State (20-3, 14-3 MIAA) Saturday afternoon inside The Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. Tip off on Robert Corn Court is scheduled for 1 p.m.

The Lions Last Time Out (16-8, 10-8 MIAA)
Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern women's basketball team used an 18-0 run over parts of the first and second quarters and took out visiting Nebraska-Kearney 76-53 tonight on Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
Southern (16-8, 10-8 MIAA) was led in scoring by 15 points each for Dru Clark and Sharese Jones. Both had five rebounds, while Jones added three assists. The 15 points were a career-high for Clark. Deb Holcomb scored 13 points in the game.
UNK (12-11, 8-9 MIAA) was led by 19 points from Laramey Becker.
The Lopers started the game on a 6-0 run and Southern scored its first points with 4:27 left in the first quarter after a jumper from Jones. The UNK lead was 10-5 after a jumper with 1:39 left in the quarter.
That's when the Lions clamped down on defense, and slammed on the accelerator. Southern went on a 5-0 run to end the quarter, capped off by a three by Holcomb as time expired.
The run reached 18-0 after a three from Tami Morice with 7:49 left in the quarter to make the score 23-10, Lions. A pair of free throws from Clark with 3:19 left pushed the lead to 20 (34-14) and a pair of free throws with just a tenth of a second left on the clock gave the Lions a 38-14 lead at the break. Southern closed the half on a 33-4 run.
The Southern lead reached 26 (45-19) after a layup from Kayla Kivinski, and a layup from Buerge with 1:03 left in the third, gave the Lions a 55-28 lead. The Lopers cut the Lions' lead to 20 twice, but that would be as close as they got.
After Southern trailed 10-5 late in the first quarter, the Lions out scored the Lopers 71-43 in the final 32 minutes of the game.
Southern had a 32-25 advantage on the boards and forced 14 UNK turnovers, scoring 18 points off of the miscues. The Lions' bench out scored the Lopers 35-19. The Lions shot 52 percent from the field and 41 percent from long-range. Southern shot 83 percent from the free throw line. The 52 percent was after the Lions opened the game 0-7.

#5 Fort Hays State Last Time Out (20-3, 14-3 MIAA)
PITTSBURG, Kan. – Pittsburg State never trailed Fort Hays State on Thursday night (Feb. 11), claiming the top-25 battle 79-69. It was the second-straight win for the Gorillas over a ranked team after knocking off Emporia State last week. As a result, the No. 23 ranked Gorillas pulled within a half game of the No. 5 Tigers in the MIAA standings for second place.
Pittsburg State defeated FHSU for a seventh consecutive time on its home floor. FHSU has not won in Pittsburg since the 2008-09 season. The Gorillas did it with hot shooting early and limited their turnover count, committing only 12. It was the lowest turnover total for a Tiger opponent this season.
After two early ties, Pittsburg State went on a 13-2 run fueled by three 3-point field goals to take a 17-6 lead. FHSU was left playing catch up the rest of the night and could never get over the hump.
The Tigers cut the lead to just two with the first basket of the second quarter, then pulled within three later in the second quarter. A quick 4-0 burst by FHSU at the end of the half left Pittsburg State leading by four at halftime, 39-35. However Pittsburg State made the first two baskets of the second half and never let the Tigers closer than six points the rest of the way.
The Gorillas shot very well in the first half, going 55.6 percent from the field and 50 percent beyond the 3-point line. Their final totals cooled to 47.2 percent overall and 42.1 percent beyond the arc, but FHSU shot only 33.3 percent from the field and struggled to 58.8 percent from the free-throw line after halftime, unable to apply enough pressure to the Gorillas. FHSU finished at 39.1 percent overall and just 22.2 percent beyond the 3-point line.
Chelsea Mason led the Tiger scoring effort with 15 points, while adding a team-best nine rebounds. Beth Bohuslavsky added 14 points and Jill Faxon had 13. Bohuslavsky led in assists with three.
Mikaela Burgess, reigning MIAA Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week, led the Gorilla scoring effort with 21 points, hitting four 3-point field goals. Paige Lungwitz and Hayden Herlocker each had 14 points, Cathy Brugman had 12, and Kylie Gafford added 11.

The Series
Fort Hays State holds a 26-17 advantage over the Lions in the series history. The Tigers have won six out of the last seven meetings against Southern including a 68-60 meeting in Hays in January of this year. Fort Hays State holds the advantage in Hays, Kan. over the Lions at 18-4, with the Lions last win in Hays coming on Feb. 19, 2011 (62-53). Missouri Southern holds a 13-7 advantage over the Tigers in Joplin. FHSU has a 1-0 advantage on neutral sites as the 2014 MIAA Post-Season Tournament is the only time the two teams have met on a neutral court. The longest winning streak for FHSU was four, which was done twice in the 80s, (Jan. 18, 1980 - Feb. 20, 1982 and Feb. 6, 1987 - Jan. 20, 1989). Southern's longest winning streak is three (Feb. 20, 2010 - Feb. 19, 2011).

The Coaches
Missouri Southern
Ronda Hubbard is in her 15th year on the staff at Missouri Southern and her third year at the helm. During her 15 years with the Lions, she has helped the team to a 245-166 record, including a 55-23 record in her first two plus seasons at the helm of the Lions program. Last season's 20 wins was the first time the women's team had won 20 games since the 1995-96 season.

Fort Hays State
Tony Hobson enters his eighth season as head coach of the Fort Hays State women's basketball program in 2015-16. Hobson is one of the most successful collegiate women's basketball coaches in the nation, entering his 24th year overall with a career record of 545-177 (.755). He ranks in the top 10 in win percentage among active coaches in NCAA Division II with a four-year college win percentage of .756 (343-111). In seven years at Fort Hays State, Hobson has a record of 132-71.

Last Time vs. Fort Hays State
Hays, Kan. - The Missouri Southern Women's Basketball team dropped their third straight game on Monday night at Gross Memorial Coliseum 68-60 to top ranked Fort Hays State.
The Lions (9-5, 3-5 MIAA) took the early lead as sophomore Dru Clark got the scoring started with a lay-up just 20 seconds into the contest. Fort Hays State answered with a 6-0 run before senior Sharese Jonessank a pair of free throws to cut the lead to two and followed that up with a layup on the next Southern possession for a 6-6 tie. Jones scored eight of her 10 first half points in the opening stanza as the Lions trailed number one Fort Hays State 15-12 after the first.
The Tigers started the second quarter on a 7-0 run to open a 22-12 advantage before senior Tami Morice converted on a three point play to cut the lead back down to seven with just over seven minutes left in the half. Jones hit a lay-up to cut the lead to five with 6:11 left in the half and following the trading of free throws junior Deb Holcomb sank a jumper to cut the lead to three at 23-20 with just over four minutes until the break. After a free throw from senior Kenya Wilson-Brown cut the lead down to two at 23-21 FHSU went on a 10-0 run over the last 3:43 to take a 33-21 lead into the locker room.
Coming out of the locker room the Lions and Tigers traded punches for the first two minutes with each scoring a pair of buckets before Taylor Chandler and Chelsea Mason gave FHSU their largest lead of the night at 41-26 with just under seven minutes left in the half. Freshman Desirea Burege made a lay-up off the assist from Wilson-Brown to cut the lead to 41-28. A 13-2 run by the Lions over the next five minutes cut the lead to two at 43-41, Holcomb scored six of her team high 19 during the run. After back-to-back buckets from FHSU's Paige Lunsford, Clark sank a lay-up as time expired in the third to make it a 47-43 ball game.
Freshman Chelsey Henry started the fourth quarter with a lay-up as the Lions clawed back within two at 47-45. Fort Hays State used a 6-0 run to go back up eight at 53-45, before Holcomb's jumper at the 4:01 mark ended that run and that would be the closest the Lions would get before Clark hit a three pointer at the buzzer to make it 68-60.
For the game, the Lions shot 51 percent (24-for-47) from the field but only 50 percent (10-for-20) from the charity stripe. FHSU out rebounded the Lions 42-31 but the Lions out dished the Tigers 14-7 with Wilson-Brown leading the way with six. She now leads the MIAA with 73 assists on the season and entering tonight was 21st in all of NCAA D-II.

Probable Starters
Missouri Southern (16-8, 10-8 MIAA)
11 Kenya Wilson-Brown G 5-5 Sr. (Arlington, Texas)
14 Tami Morice G 5-11 Sr. (Naperville, Ill.)
21 Desirea Buerge F 6-0 Fr. (Webb City, Mo.)
24 Deb Holcomb G 5-7 Jr. (Dallas, Texas)
44 Sharese Jones G 5-8 Sr. (St. Charles, Mo.)

#5 Fort Hays State (20-3, 14-3 MIAA)
3 Taylor Chandler   G   5-5   R-Jr. (Wichita, Kan.)
5 Beth Bohuslavsky   G   5-6   Sr. (Dwight, Neb.)
11 Chelsea Mason   G   5-9   Sr. (Bellevue, Neb.)
32 Jill Faxon   G   5-10   Jr. (Beatrice, Neb.)
35 Paige Lunsford   G   5-11   Sr. (Hays, Kan.)

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