Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern women's basketball team (12-12, 4-10 MIAA) heads to cross-state rival Pittsburg State (18-5, 10-4 MIAA) for the first meeting of a home-and-home between the two programs tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 pm inside John Lance Arena.
Game Information
Date: Saturday February 16, 2019
Tip-Off: 1:30 pm
Location: Pittsburg, Kan.
Site: John Lance Arena (Whetzel Court)
Series Record:
Media Coverage
MSSU Radio: Fox Sports Joplin 101.3 FM, 107.9 FM, AM 1560, 1340 AM; 88.7 FM KXMS
Audio: http://radio.securenetsystems.net/v5/WMBH
Webcast: http://themiaanetwork.com/mssulions/
Live Stats: https://pittstategorillas.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
Picking Up the Scent: Five Components on Opponents
Pittsburg State
- Picked 7th with in the MIAA preseason poll
- National Rankings (301 schools - Top-50):
- 20th in field-goal percentage (45.4)
- 23rd in three-point field goal (36.3)
- 28th in def. rebounds per game and three-point field goal defense (29/27.7)
- 29th in turnovers per game (13.9)
- 48th in scoring offense (73.4)
- 49th in scoring margin (10.4)
- Return seven letter winners, including three players averaging double-digits in scoring with senior guard Shelby Lopez (11.7), junior forward Athena Alvarado (10.9), and sophomore guard Maya Williams (10.7)
- Registered a .500 record in the their last six games (3-3)
- Head coach Amanda Davied enters her first season at the helm of the Gorillas after spending the last 14 season as an assistant coach while helping the team toward five trips to the NCAA tournament
Quick Notes
Stop the Polls
The Lions were picked to finish 10th in the MIAA after going 11-17 overall and 8-11 in MIAA play during the 2017-18 campaign. Defending NCAA Champions Central Missouri was picked to win the MIAA with 13 first-place votes while Fort Hays received the remaining first place vote and was picked second. Emporia State (3), Washburn (4), and Central Oklahoma (5) rounded out the top-5. FHSU (4) moved up a spot as UCM (24) dropped down three spots while Lindenwood (25) climbed back into the rankings for the second time this year to round out the MIAA representation surrounding the National Coaches' poll.
Leader of the Pride
Guard
Chelsey Henry returns as the only senior from last year's squad and will be looked upon to make sure that all nine newcomers understand what it means to compete in what is the MIAA. After sitting out the first three games of the season, the Neosho native is now fourth in the MIAA averaging 16.4 points per game while shooting 40.6 percent from the field in dropping a spot to sixth in the conference.
Welcome to the Club
Henry soared over the 1,000 career-point barrier against Illinois-Springfield and now stands in 11th on the MSSU All-Time scoring list with 1,213, trailing Erin Rice (1,220) by 7 points for a spot in the top ten.
How many Transfers are we going to take before passing? FOUR!!!
With eight players departing, the coaching staff mapped out the entire college basketball landscape in order to find four transfers and they did in the shape of 6'1 forward
Laure Assena (Lipscomb University), 5'10 guard
Chasidee Owens (Ouachita Baptist), 5'8 guard
Destiny Cozart (John A. Logan), and 6'2 center
Jordan Schoenberger (Independence CC).
To be the BEST, you have to BEAT the BEST!
As the Lions enter the second half of the 2018-19 season, they will have to prepare for the toughest schedule going forward according to NCAA statistics. The Lions' future opponents currently have a combined record of 86-26, calculating the highest winning percentage of .768. Fellow MIAA members Northeastern State (2) and Central Oklahoma (5) also fall into the top-ten as well.
Among the 17% (Top-50 out of 301 teams)
30th in blocks (97)
34th in rebounds (951)
50th in block shots per game (4.0)
Up Next
The Lions face Pittsburg State in the second game of the home-and-home series on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 5:30 pm as part of Senior Day where the women's basketball team will honor their two seniors in guard
Chelsey Henry and
Laure Assena.
