Topeka, Kan. - The Missouri Southern Women's Basketball team looks to bounce back from a Wednesday night 71-61 loss as they take on the Washburn  University Ichabods on Saturday evening. Tip off from inside Lee Arena is scheduled for 5 p.m.

Last Time Out for the Lions (14-8, 8-8 MIAA)
Emporia, Kan. - The Missouri Southern Lions Women's Basketball team fell 71-61 Wednesday evening to the 16th ranked Emporia State Lady Hornets inside William L. White Auditorium.
The 16th ranked Lady Hornets started the game on a 6-2 run before junior Deb Holcomb would bring Southern to the lead with a 5-0 run of her own to give the Lions a 7-6 lead. Back-to-back lay-ups from sophomore Kayla Kivinski gave Southern an 11-9 lead with just over four minutes left in the quarter. From there Emporia State closed the period on an 11-2 run to take a 20-13 lead into the quarter break.
Back-to-back lay-ups from seniors Sharese Jones and Kenya Wilson-Brown cut the Lady Hornets lead to three, 20-17, as the second quarter opened. Following a couple of buckets from three point range by the Lady Hornets, a jumper from Jones at the 6:21 mark cut the Emporia State lead down to five at 26-21 and a three from sophomore Jenson Maydew a minute later made it 26-24. Both teams were scoreless until senior Tami Morice drained a three pointer to give the Lions a 27-26 lead with just under three minutes to play in the half. Once again Emporia State would go on a run to close out the quarter, this time a 5-0 run to take a 31-27 lead into the locker room.
Jones led the Lions with eight points while Holcomb and Morice tallied five each. Sophomore Dru Clark, Holcomb, and Kivinski led the Lions with two rebounds each as the Lions were out rebounded by Emporia State 15-12 in the first half. The 16th ranked Lady Hornets were led by Kelly Moten with eight points and Kelsey Barnwell added seven. Sandra Ngoie and Kathryn Flott led Emporia State in the first half with three rebounds each.
The Lady Hornets started the third quarter right where they left off as they extended the 5-0 run into a 12-0 run before Jones would convert the old fashion three point play to pull the Lions within eight at 38-30. After both teams traded a pair of 4-0 runs Emporia State took a 14 point lead, 50-36, on a pair of free throws from Ngoie with 2:35 left in the quarter. Freshman Desirea Buerge closed out the scoring in the third quarter with a three point play of her own with just over 90 seconds on the clock to put the Lions within 12 at 52-40.
ESU opened the fourth quarter with a Flott lay-up and an immediate time out called by Southern. Coming out of the time out Holcomb drained a three to make it 54-43 and back-to-back threes from Maydew and Holcomb a minute later made it 57-49 with 7:07 to play. The eight point deficit was the closest the Lions would get as they cut the Emporia State lead down to eight two more times on lay-ups from Maydew and Wilson-Brown before a 9-0 run by the Lady Hornets over two minutes and 20 seconds of play but ESU up by 17, 70-53, with 1:48 to play. Southern went 7-for-8 in the last minute of play from the free throw line to the Lady Hornets 1-for-2 to provide the final score of 71-61.
After shooting 50 percent (12-for-24) from the field in the first half the Lions finished the game shooting 39.0 percent (23-for-59) for the game. Emporia State shot 38.5 percent (10-for-26) from the field in the first half and finished the game at 46.3 percent (25-for-54). The Lady Hornets out rebounded Southern 35-29 for the game while gathering eight blocks.
Jones led all scorers with 21 points while Holcomb added 14 for the Lions. Emporia State had four players score in double figures with Flott leading the way with 16 points.

Last Time Out for the Ichabods (12-9, 8-7 MIAA)
TOPEKA, Kan. – Washburn Women's Basketball couldn't slow a hot-shooting Pittsburg State team in a 88-57 home loss on Wednesday, Feb. 3.
 WU drops to 12-9 overall on the season and 8-7 in the MIAA while Pittsburg State is now 18-4 overall and 12-4 in the MIAA. 
The Ichabods shot 37.1 percent from the field and hit 7-of-8 from the free throw line, but PSU was 21-of-31 from three-point range and shot 50.9 percent from the field, allowing the Gorillas to pull away. 
Alyxis Bowens lead the Ichabods with 16 points, one ahead of Erin Dohnalek who finished with 15.  Bowens and Lane (four assists) both had six rebounds, tied for second on the team behind Jayna Smith, who finished with eight rebounds to go with nine points.  On the defensive end, Cindy Demosthene had a career-high four blocks.
Pitt State shot 9-of-10 from three-point range in the first quarter to take a 29-14 lead before WU slowed the Gorilla attack in the second.  Both teams had 13 in the second frame and WU trailed, 42-27 at half.  
Washburn looked to rally in the third with an 8-2 run early, cutting the lead to nine (44-35) and forcing a PSU timeout with 7:20 on the clock,  but the Gorillas soon put the deficit back in double-digits and WU couldn't close the gap any further.

The Series
The Ichabods hold a 46-27 overall advantage over the Lions. The Lions are 17-19 in Joplin against Washburn and are 5-10 inside The Leggett & Platt Athletic Center, while only being 10-27 in Topeka, Kan. 
The Lions snapped a four game losing streak at Lee Arena last season as they upset then seventh-ranked Washburn 66-62 as they moved to 8-0, 2-0 on the season.
The longest winning streak for the Lions was six games from Jan. 27, 1978 thru Jan. 26, 1980. The Ichabods longest winning streak is at seven, from Jan. 30, 1987 thru Feb. 12, 1990.
Under Coach Hubbard the Lions are 2-1 against Washburn.

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 243-165 record, including a 53-22 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.

Washburn
Ron McHenry will begin his 16th season at Washburn in 2015-16 looking to improve on his impressive resume and return the Ichabods to the top of the MIAA and region.McHenry, a national champion in 2004-05, went 374-94 (.799) in his first 14 years, all at Washburn since 2000-01.He's 215-65 (.767) in his career in MIAA games and 191-30 (.864) coaching in Lee Arena. He's a four-time MIAA coach of the year and a two-time regional coach of the year.

Last Time vs. Washburn
Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern women's basketball team had an extremely cold shooting second half and the Lions fell 64-42 today to visiting Washburn on Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
 Southern (9-3, 3-3 MIAA) was led offensively by Sharese Jones as she scored 15 points and added six rebounds. Deb Holcomb scored 12 points. Bri Shavers, Kayla Kivinski and Desirea Buerge scored four points each.
 Washburn (5-4, 3-2 MIAA) had three score in double-figures, led by 13 points from Julie Ravn. Jayna Smith had a team-high 13 rebounds.
 The Lions scored the game's first five points as Morice hit a layup and Jones nailed a three pointer. Washburn went ahead 8-7, however, after a three from Erin Dohnalek with 5:24 left to go in the quarter.
 Southern tied the score at ten after a pair of free throws from Jones, but the Ichabods hit a three as time expired in the quarter to lead 13-10 after one.
 Back-to-back threes from Holcomb to start the second quarter put Southern up 16-13 and a layup from Shavers with just over 7:00 to go put the Lions up 20-15. A three from Jones with 3:50 to go in the half put the Lions up 23-19 and a put back from Jones the next trip down gave Southern a six-point lead (25-19).
 A pair of free throws for the Ichabods tied the score at 25, but two freebies for Holcomb gave the Lions a 27-25 lead at the break.
 Washburn opened up the third quarter on a 17-6 run and led 42-33 with a minute to go in the quarter. The Ichabods would lead 44-35 after three.
 The Ichabods' lead reached 15 (50-35) after a pair of free throws with 7:49 in the fourth quarter. The Lions' cold shooting continued, but a three from Desirea Buerge with 3:56 to go in the fourth made the score 57-42, Washburn. It was the first field goal for the Lions in 9:36.
 The Lions shot 24 percent from the field and 81 percent from the free throw line. Southern forced 17 turnovers and scored 16 points off of the miscues.

Probable Starters
Missouri Southern (14-8, 8-8 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.)

Washburn (12-9, 8-7 MIAA)
 4 Erika Lane G 5-10 Jr. (Topkea, Kan.)
10 Haley Pfau G 5-11 Sr. (Oskaloosa, Kan.)
21 Julie Ravn G 5-9 Jr. (Horsens, Denmark)
24 Jayna Smith F 5-10 Sr. (Holton, Kan.)
32 Alyxis Bowens F 6-2 Jr. (Derby, Kan.)