Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern women's basketball program picked up its sixth win in a row defeating Rogers State 73-56 tonight inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center 

 

The Lions (13-5, 10-3 MIAA) were led by sophomore center Madi Stokes with 16 points shooting 7-of-10 from the while making both free throw attempts and coming away with seven rebounds and two blocks, becoming the second Lion in school history to have three 30 or more block seasons (Caryn Schumaker 88-91). True freshman guard Lacy Stokes finished with 13 points, dished out 10 assists for her first career double-double with assists, pulled down six rebounds and had three steals. 
 
Lacy became the first Lions since Camila Lacerda (Feb. 28, 2015) to have 10 or more assists in a game and achieve a double-double. Having a season to remember, Lacy also joined the 100+ assists and 50+ steals in a season club at Missouri Southern, becoming the 17^th Lion and the third freshman ever to accomplish the feat.
 
Junior guard/forward Amaya Johns scored 11 points off the bench going 4-of-7 from the field and 2-of-4 from three while collecting four rebounds. Graduate guard Brooke Stauffer added nine points going 2-of-5 from three and six rebounds while junior guard/forward Layne Skiles also had nine points and added two rebounds, assists and blocks.

 

Rogers State (7-13, 3-11 MIAA) was led by Kylee Day with 17 points going 6-of-12 from the field and 4-of-7 from three off the bench. Bailey Kliewer added 11 points with two blocks as a starter and Jordan Lewis provided nine points, and team-highs of five rebounds and three assists.
 
The Lions scored the first bucket of the game and had a 4-3 lead following a Lacy Stokes' driving layup with 7:48 remaining in the first quarter. The Hillcats took control of the middle portion of the first quarter posting a 16-8 lead following a pair of Vanessa Gajdosova free throws with 2:35 left. A Cameron Call three that was assisted by Johns started an 11-0 run to close the quarter for the Lions to lead 19-16 after one.
 
The Lions kept the pressure, going  on a 11-2 run to start the second that was capped by a Lacy Stokes' driving layup with 5:52 remaining in the half to make the score 30-18. Skiles put the icing on the first half with a three assisted by Lacy Stokes with 44 seconds left to go into halftime up 37-22.
 
Another fast start by the Lions saw the team grab a 48-25 lead following a Stauffer three that Skiles assisted on at 5:19 remaining in the quarter. The Hillcats cut into the Southern lead in the last two minutes of the third quarter with a 8-2 run making it 57-42 heading into the fourth quarter following a Lacy Stokes floater.
 
Rogers State started the fourth quarter on an 11-4 run that saw the Southern lead cut to eight (61-53). That was as close as the Hillcats came as a 12-3 run by the Lions closed out the game 73-56 with the last bucket at 1:22 that sealed the double-double for Lacy with a Lacy Stokes -to- Madi Stokes connection.
 
As a team, the Lions had a better field goal percentage (52.7-37.0), collected more rebounds (38-21), provided more assists (17-13), had more blocks (5-2), more bench points (26-23), points in the paint (36-18) and second chance points (11-6).
 
Up next for the Lions is Northeastern State on Saturday Janurary 29^th at 1:30 pm from the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. Coming into the matchup the RiverHawks played on Tuesday losing to Nebraska-Kearney in Tahlequah and are 12^th in the MIAA standings as of tonight while the Lions riding a six game winning streak are now in third place.