St. Joseph, Mo. – The Missouri Southern women's basketball team closed out its road trip with a 74-65 loss inside the MWSU Fieldhouse tonight as Madi and Lacy Stokes combined for 40 points.
 
The Lions (7-5,4-3 MIAA) were led by sophomore center Madi Stokes with her second double-double of the season scoring 21 points shooting 9-of-16 from the field and 3-of-4 from free throws while coming away with a season-high 11 rebounds. True freshman guard Lacy Stokes filled the stat sheet once again finishing with 19 points going 7-of-8 from free throws, seven assists and six steals becoming the first Lions since Alexis Fitzpatrick in 2013-14 to have two 6+ steal games in a season.
 
Sophomore guard Cameron Call scored eight points from the bench going 2-of-4 from three and had two steals, redshirt freshman Kaitlin Hunnicutt and Hailey Grant scored seven points as well.
 
Missouri Western (12-1, 6-1 MIAA) was led by Connie Clark with 20 points shooting 8-of-12 from the field while pulling down seven rebounds. Jordan Cunningham finishing with 13 points and a team-high four assists, Brionna Budgetts had 12 points to go with five rebounds and Alyssa Bonilla scored 10 points while coming away with seven rebounds. Jaelyn Haggard led the bench scoring with eight points going 2-of-4 from three.
 
Southern got on the board off a Madi Stokes jumper assisted by junior guard/forward Layne Skiles, tying it at 2-2 at 8:29. The Lions grabbed an 8-6 lead with 5:12 left in the quarter off a redshirt freshman guard/forward Hailey Grant three assisted by Lacy Stokes to cap off a 5-0 run. Missouri Western responded with a 11-3 run over the next three minutes to have a 17-11 lead following Haggard's three assisted by Budgetts with 1:58 left in the first quarter.
 
Hunnicutt got the Lions on the board in the second quarter on a three assisted by Lacy Stokes with 8:35 remaining, cutting the Griffons lead to four (22-18). A 8-3 run by the Lions forced a Missouri Western timeout with 3:05 left in the half following a Lacy Stokes three assisted by graduate guard Brooke Stauffer trimming the lead to three (33-30). 
 
Headed into the halftime period, the Lions trailed 35-32 with Lacy Stokes already posting 11 points and five stelas with Madi Stokes adding nine points and six rebounds. As a team the Lions went 5-of-9 from three in the first half while limiting the Griffons to going 3-9 from three.
 
The Lions cut the Missouri Western lead down to one (40-39) with 6:55 left in the third quarter as Lacy Stokes broke the press finding Skiles open at the corner for three to cap a 7-3 run. Missouri Western responded with an 8-3 run to stretch the lead to six (48-42). Lacy Stokes ended the scoring in the third quarter sinking a pair of free throws with a second left cutting the lead down to four (52-48).
 
The Griffons opened the quarter on a 7-3 run before the Lions answered back with a 10-4 run to cut the deficit to two (63-61) with 2:40 left following a Madi Stokes turnaround jumper assisted by Lacy Stokes. Missouri Western made a layup the following possession and never surrendered the lead in the quarter as the Lions got to within five before falling 74-65.
 
As a team Missouri Southern held the advantage in bench points 15-12, steals 10-9 and points off turnovers 19-15, threes made 8-5 and in three point percentage .400-.294.
 
Up next is a rivalry game against Pittsburg State on Saturday inside the friendly confines of the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.