EMPORIA, Kan.— Sophomore Layne Skiles scored a career-high 20 points including a career-high 4-of-5 from beyond the arch for the Missouri Southern women's basketball team as they fell to Emporia State, 71-63 on Saturday.
 
The Lions fell to 7-14 overall and 4-9 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
 
With a brand-new starting lineup for the Lions, they took a three-point lead after the first five minutes of play as Kaiulani Jones scored a trey. The Hornets took an 8-5 lead but Skiles scored two straight buckets including a trey to tie the game at eight. As the first quarter came to an end, the Hornets led 13-10.
 
Southern played clean in the second quarter by not getting in foul trouble, but the Hornets countered a 3-of-4 showing from the free throw line with a 17-point performance to take a 35-25 lead at the half. The Lions had 14 first half turnovers that led to an 11-2 advantage for Emporia State in points off turnover.
 
The Lions outscored the Hornets 21-10 in the third quarter and regained the lead at 46-45  as they shot 7-of-11 from the field.
 
The fourth quarter started off rough for the Lions as the Hornets went on a 12-2 run and led 57-50 with 6:39 remaining in the game. The Lions could not get much closer as the Hornets did just enough, outscoring MSSU 26-17 in the fourth, for the win.
 
As a team, Missouri Southern shot 20-of-44 (45.4 percent) from the field while hitting 10-of-22 (47.6 percent) from beyond the arch and 13-of-16 (81.3 percent) from the charity stripe. Madi Stokes lead the rebounding show for MSSU with nine of the team's 29.
 
Zoe Campbell was credited with another block to increase her MSSU-single season record to 54. Her career total is now 105, just four away from tying MSSU's career record of 109, held by Caryn Schumaker (1987-1991).
 
The Lions return to action on Thursday when they host Northwest Missouri for an MIAA tilt. The game is set to tip off at 5:30 p.m.