Warrensburg, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Lions Women's Basketball team looks for the season sweep of Central Missouri today as the Lions and Jennies tip off at the UCM Multipurpose Building at 1:30 p.m.

The Last Time Out for the Lions (16-10, 10-10 MIAA)
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.

The Last Time Out for the Jennies (9-15, 8-11 MIAA)
WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Central Missouri put up a fight against No. 19 Pittsburg State, leading for 18:23 of the game. In the end the Jennies came up a bit short, 68-64, dropping them to 9-15 this season and 8-11 in the MIAA.
 Three Jennies scored in double-figures, led by Shelby Winkelmann's 20 points. Ashley Duffy and Tayler Weiks each had 12. Ashley Joneschipped in with eight points and seven rebounds.
 After the Gorillas took an early 5-2 lead, the Jennies came roaring back on the strength of a 12-2 run to go up 14-7. A Winkelmann jumper pushed the lead to a game-high 13, 26-13.
 PSU knocked in a layup with under 30 seconds left and UCM held a 26-15 lead after one. 
 The Jennies kept a lead the entirety of the second period, but the Gorillas were able to climb back into the game, knocking the game into single digits less than a minute in.
 Duffy hit a layup with 5:20 to play, but the Jens went cold after that. PSU cut the lead all the way down to one with 1:10 to play when Mikaela Burgess splashed a triple.
 With less than a second remaining in the half, Danielle Randle flipped the inbound to half court where Paige Redmondcaught it on a hop and rattled in a half-court three just before the buzzer, as UCM took a 35-31 lead into the half.
 The lead vanished at the 7:29 mark of the third when Haydn Herlocker knocked in her second three-pointer of the game, breaking a 35-all tie. 
 The Jennies got close a number of times, but the Gorillas were able to hold a lead the remainder of the game. They quickly pushed their lead to a game-high 10, midway through the third. 
 Just before the buzzer signaled the end of the period though, Jones banked in a layup to get UCM back to within two, 50-48.
UCM evened up the score at 50-all on their frist field goal of the final period, getting a layup from Winkelmann. The Gorillas though went on an 11-2 run after that, again going up by nine, 61-52 with just over five minutes to play.
With time winding down, UCM got back to within two thanks to layups from Winkelmann and Duffy. But the Gorillas went 6-for-6 at the charity stripe once the Jennies needed to foul to extend the game, keeping UCM at bay and holding on for a four point win, 68-64.
Central Missouri outshot the Gorillas, 46.4% to 46%. However PSU hit two more three pointers than the Jennies, seven to five. The Gorillas were also stronger on the glass with a 32 to 27 rebounding edge and nine second-chance points. 

The Series
This is the 60th meeting between the Lions and the Jennies and UCM leads the series 37-22. Southern took the first meeting this season winning 62-59 in Joplin. UCM's longest winning streak in the series was six from Jan. 26, 2011 through Feb. 8, 2014. The Jennies have won eight out of the last 10 against the Lions. Southern's longest winning streak of five wins started on Feb. 26, 1992 and went through Jan. 18, 1995. UCM holds a 20-7 advantage in Warrensburg over the Lions. When in Joplin the Lions lead 15-14. The Jennies have a 3-1 advantage at the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City.

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 245-167 record, including a 55-24 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.

Central Missouri
Dave Slifer enters his 12th season at the helm of the Jennies, compiling a 216-111 record at UCM. With the Jennies mark of 21-9 in 2014-15, Slifer has led UCM to four straight 20+ win seasons for the first time since a stretch of 11 straight years from 1981-92. In the 2013-14 season, Slifer guided Central Missouri to its best record in the last 23 years (26-5) and the team's first outright MIAA regular season title since 1990-91. The Jennies went on to win their first NCAA Tournament game since the 2005-06 season in an 82-69 victory over Northern State in the Central Regional quarterfinals on March 14, 2014.

Last Time vs. UCM
Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern women's basketball team used a 9-0 run late in the third quarter to pull away and held on to defeat visiting Central Missouri 62-59 on Robert Corn Court inside the Leggrett & Platt Athletic Center today.
 Southern (11-6, 5-5 MIAA) was led in scoring by Deb Holcomb with 18 points as she added a career-high seven assists. Sharese Jones had 16 points and eight rebounds, while Desirea Buerge scored 13 points and added a career-high eight rebounds.
 Central (5-8, 4-4 MIAA) was led by 24 points from Shelby Winkelman. Ashley Jones had ten points and 15 rebounds.
 Central had a five-point lead (9-4) after a layup from Winkelman with 6:03 left in the first quarter, but a layup from Holcomb as time expired in the quarter cut the Central lead to just one (15-14).
 A layup from Dru Clark with 17:31 left in the quarter gave the Lions a 16-15 lead, but Central answered back the next trip down and led from that point on in the half. The Jennies led by as many as six (22-16) with 4:15 left in the half, but a layup from Tami Morice with 1:31 to go made the halftime score 22-20, UCM.
 After the halftime break, the Lions made their move. A layup from Buerge with 7:18 left in the quarter tied the score at 28 and a three from Jones with 6:19 to go gave the Lions a 31-30 lead. A jumper from Holcomb with 3:12 left in the quarter capped off a 9-0 run by the Lions and gave Southern a 37-30 lead. The lead would be 41-36 at the end of the quarter.
 A three from Winkelman gave UCM the lead back at 52-49 with just under four minutes to play in the game, but a three-point play from Holcomb with 2:52 to go gave the Lions back the lead at 54-53.
 After a Central bucket, an offensive rebound and a put back from Jones with two to go made the score 56-55, Lions and a three from Buerge with 1:30 to go gave the Lions a four-point advantage (59-55). On the ensuing possession, the Lions forced a defensive stop and after the rebound, Holcomb was fouled, making one of the two free throws.
 A three from the Jennies cut the Lions' lead to 60-59 with 20 seconds to go and a turnover by the Lions on the in bounds play gave the ball back to Central with 19.3 seconds to go. However, solid defense from the Lions forced a bad shot from Central and Jones made both free throws to put Southern up 62-59 with 0.7 seconds on the clock. A last-second shot for the Jennies was no good.
 Southern shot 38 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free throw line. Southern forced 15 UCM turnovers and scored 15 points off of the miscues.

Probable Starters
Central Missouri (9-15, 8-11 MIAA)
    00    Paige Redmond    G    5-7    Fr. (Springdale, Ark.)
    11    Tayler Weiks    G    5-9    Jr. (Seattle, Wash.)
    23    Shelby Winkelmann    G    5-9    Sr. (Hermann, Mo.)
    34    Ashley Duffy    G/F    5-10    Jr. (San Diego, Calif.)
    42    Ashley Jones    F    6-2    Sr.  (Tulsa, Okla.)

Missouri Southern (16-10, 10-10 MIAA)
    1    Dru Clark    G    5-7    So. (Collinsville, Okla.)    
    11    Kenya Wilson-Brown    G    5-5    Sr. (Arlington, Texas)    
    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.)