Kansas City, Mo – The Missouri Southern women's basketball team began the season with a 65-64 win today over #23 Lubbock Christian at Municipal Auditorium as part of the D2CCA Tip-Off Classic.
#19/6 Lions (1-0) were led by
Lacy Stokes with 19 points, eight assists and three steals while going 6-of-7 from free throws.
Madi Stokes collected her 15
th career double-double with a 12 point, 13 rebound performance to go with two blocks.
Kryslyn Jones was the other Lion to reach double figures finishing with 10 points shooting 4-of-8, 2-of-5 from three and added four rebounds.
Amaya Johns led the bench scoring with eight points to become the 66
th Lion in program history to eclipse 500 career points.
#23/13 Lubbock Chrisitan (0-1) was led by Grace Foster with 16 points and 11 rebounds, Shaylee Stovall added 14 points and Resse Schumann had 10 points off the bench. Audrey Robertson finished with 10 rebounds, seven points and five assists to lead the Lady Chaps.
In the first quarter the Lions got on the board with a fast break steal and assist by
Lacy Stokes before dishing to
Kaitlin Hunnicutt for the easy score with 8:32 to tie it, a sign of things to come. The first Lion lead was from Lacy dialing up a three thanks to a Jones offensive rebound and assist making it 5-4 with 7:44 left.
The lead moved to three (7-4) for the Lions before a 8-0 run by Lubbock Christian opened up a 12-7 deficit with 4:47 remaining in the quarter. The Lady Chaps would end the quarter on a 4-0 run in the last minute to go into the second quarter up 18-11.
A quick 7-0 run by the Lions tied it up 18-18 with 7:46 left in the second quarter before the two teams traded points on ensuing possessions and then the Lions jumped out on a 6-0 run for a 24-20 lead with 5:52 left. Lubbock Christian and Southern would exchange the lead and tie it up three times before a Johns jumper from
Mira Khan gave the Lions the 35-33 lead heading into the half and gave Johns 500 career points.
The third quarter began with the Lions getting on the board early and the Lady Chaps clawing away until tying it up 39-39 with 8:01 left in the third quarter. Back-to-back threes by
Layne Skiles and Jones opened up a three point lead 45-42 with 6:01 left that would stand until Lubbock Christian tied it 45 all with 3:41 remaining.
Ultimately the third quarter was decided in the 1:09 as the Lions went on a 5-0 run to close the quarter up 53-48.
Southern stretched the lead to seven (55-48) with 9:51 remaining in the game for the biggest lead of the game for the Lions. Lacy would get the lead back up to six (59-53) with 6:55 left before the Lady Chaps tied it 59-59 with 4:49 and took a two point lead on their following possession.
Lubbock Christian held a 64-61 lead with 1:45 left before the Stokes girls powered the Lions ahead, first Lacy knocked down a turnaround jumper in the paint and a Lacy-Madi connection made it 65-64 with 31 seconds left. The Lady Chaps would use two timeouts with under 30 seconds left but could not make a jumper in the paint with 3 seconds left with Madi corralling the rebound and Lacy running out the clock for the win.
After a season of many first the Lions achieved another first as this was the first win in a season opener against a ranked opposition and the first win over Lubbock Christian in series history to even up the series. As a team the Lions held the advantage in points off turnovers 18-8, second chance points 16-15, points in the paint 34-30, fast break points 9-6, threes made 5-3, offensive rebounds 18-13, assists 14-13 and steals 5-4. The two teams exchanged 11 leads and were tied 13 times during the game.
Up next for the Lions is Minnesota – Duluth who received votes in the WBCA and D2SIDA preseason polls to conclude the D2CCA Tip-Off Classic for both teams tomorrow at 3:30pm inside Municipal Auditorium.
The Missouri Southern women's basketball season is presented by People's Bank of Seneca, a proud supporter of Lion Athletics.
