Claremore, Okla. – The Missouri Southern women's basketball team won its fifth game in a row as the Lions took out Rogers State 84-65 today inside the Claremore Expo Center.
 
Southern (5-2, 3-0 MIAA) was led by Lacy Stokes as the freshman finished with 18 points, eight assists, and a steal, going 10-of-14 from the free throw line. Layne Skiles scored a season-high 16 points, going 4-of-5 from the field, 3-of-3 from three-point line and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
 
Hailey Grant scored a career-high 11 points, while Kaitlin Hunnicutt added nine points and career-highs in steals (5) and rebounds (6). Madi Stokes finished with eight points on 4-of-7 from the field.
 
Rogers State (4-6, 0-4 MIAA) was led by Bailey Kliewer with 13 points, while Jordan Lewis scored 12 and Katrina Christian had ten.
 
The Hillcats scored the first four points of the ballgame, but the Lions answered back with ten unanswered capped by a pair of free throws from Skiles with 4:30 left in the first to lead 10-4. A three-point play from Hailey Grant with 1:55 left in the quarter put the Lions up 15-7 and a layup from Lacy Stokes with 1:40 left would be the last points of the quarter.
 
Southern led 20-13 after a three from Brooke Stauffer with 7:48 to go in the second quarter, and a three from Skiles with 7:07 on the clock put the Lions up by ten (23-13).
 
The Hillcats put together a 12-1 run to lead 25-24 after a three from Christian with 3:49 left and led again 27-26, before a driving layup from Lacy Stokes with 2:59 left gave the Lions back the lead at 28-27 and Southern would not trail from there on out.
 
A pair of free throws from Grant with 1:23 left put Southern up 33-27, while a pair of freebies from Mia Topping with 43 seconds left. Three free throws from Skiles with 16 seconds left from Skiles and a three from Skiles as time expired made the halftime score 41-29, Lions.
 
Southern opened the third quarter and kept its foot on the gas. The Lions led 52-32 after a layup from Lacy Stokes, and a three from Cameron Call put the lead at 25 (57-32). A jumper from Grant made the lead 61-36 with 1:14 left and a step back jumper from Amaya Johns with 28 left pushed the score to 63-37. The Hillcats got a pair of free throws as the quarter ended to make the score 63-39.
 
A jumper from Grant with 5:39 to go in the fourth gave the Lions a 69-50 lead, while a pair of freebies from Lacy Stokes with 3:55 to go pushed the score to 74-56. The Southern lead was 22 (82-58) after a jumper from Brittney Flexer with a minute to go.
 
Southern shot 52 percent from the field and 58 percent from long-range, while making 76 percent of its free throws. The Lions scored 22 points off 19 Hillcats' turnovers and had a 15-3 advantage on fast-break points. The Lions' bench outscored Rogers State 31-19.
 
Southern will be back in action on Monday night when the Lions step out of MIAA play to host McKendree. Tip off from Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center is set for 5:30 pm.