Bolivar, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Lions fell 65-52 Thursday night to Southwest Baptist University inside the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar.

The Lions (16-10, 10-10 MIAA) started off hot has they opened a 12-3 lead over SBU on a three pointer from sophomore Dru Clark. The Bearcats responded with a 12-2 run to close out the first quarter and they never looked back on their way to the 65-52 win. Southern cut the lead down to two int he second quarter at 19-17 on a three pointer from freshman Desirea Buerge but the Bearcats answered back with a 6-0 run to expand the lead back to eight on a pair of free throws from Dilonna Johnson with 2:05 left in the half. Buerge scored five of the six points in the second quarter for the Lions with a pair of free throws with 1:04 left in the half and senior Tami Morice added another charity with just under 45 seconds until the break.

For the half SBU shot 58.8 percent (10-for-17) from the field while the Lions shot 27.3 percent (6-for-22). Buerge led Southern in the first half with seven points and Caylee Richardson led SBU with nine.

The Bearcats opened the third quarter on a 6-0 run to push their lead to 13, 33-20, before an old fashioned three point play from senior Sharese Jones put the Lions back within striking distance with 7:43 left in the third quarter. Another 7-0 run by the Bearcats yielded their largest lead to that point at 17, 40-23, with just over five and half before the quarter break. A 6-0 run by the Lions made it close again as junior Deb Holcomb and sophomore Jenson Maydew connected on three lay-ups. A three with 27 seconds left in the period from Johnson gave SBU a 14 point lead at 47-33 before a lay-up from Holcomb finished the third at 47-35.

The Bearcats would see their lead get up to 19, 58-39, when Sarah Magana sank a lay-up with 5:45 left in the game before a three from Buerge started a small 6-0 run that saw another old fashioned three point play by Clark with 5:04 to play. The Lions wouldn't be able to get any closer as they teams traded buckets going down the stretch as SBU pulled out the 65-52 win.

Three Lions scored in double figures led by Buerge with 15, Jones added 13, and Holcomb chipped in 11. Clark finished with eight points and two assists and two steals. Jones' four rebounds saw her hit the 635 career rebound mark which puts her pass MSSU Hall of Famer and current women's track and field coach Patty Vavra for fifth all time at Southern. While Jones' 13 points puts her at a career total of 1,352 just one point from a Melissa Grider (1993-96) for fifth place all time. She needs just 35 points to moved into a tie for fourth place in Lions history.

Southern will be back in action on Saturday as they travel to Warrensburg, Missouri to take on the Central Missouri Jennies in a 1:30 p.m. start at the UCM Multipurpose Building.