Tahlequah, Okla. – The Missouri Southern women's basketball team picked up a 63-51 road win tonight over Northeastern State inside the NSU Event Center.
Leading the charge for the Lions (15-4, 7-4 MIAA) was
Lacy Stokes with 21 points to go with five steals.
Kryslyn Jones had 14 points,
Kaitlin Hunnicutt had nine points while going 3-of-5 from three.
Madi Stokes had a team-high 10 rebounds and two blocks.
Amaya Johns and
Hailey Grant both had five points off the bench with Johns adding six rebounds and three steals.
Northeastern State (5-11, 2-9 MIAA) was led by Jaylee Kindred with 25 points and 14 rebounds, Aubrey Brown dished out a game-high six assists and had three points. Ashton Hackler had eight points and four rebounds and was one of three RiverHawks to come away with a steal. Mika Scott led the bench with six points by knocking down a pair of three's.
As a team the Lions held the advantage over Northeastern State in free throws made 11-9, steals 9-3, blocks 6-2, offensive rebounds 11-7, bench points 12-6, fast break points 9-0, points off turnovers 18-5, points in the paint 26-24 and second chance points 5-4. Southern forced the RiverHawks into 23 turnovers and the Lions held the lead for 27:05 of the game.
In the first quarter the Lions got out to a 17-2 lead following a Johns free throw with 1:53 left, with six different Lions scoring in the first quarter as Lacy led the group with six points. Back-to-back three's by Scott for the RiverHawks made it a 17-8 lead for Southern to end the quarter.
For the second quarter it was a Northeastern State 12-4 run that saw the lead go down to one (21-20) with 2:44 left in the half. Following the lead being trimmed to one Lacy made a layup on the ensuing possession but a 4-0 run by Northeastern State to end the half made it 24-23 in favor of the hosts thanks to a last second basket by Kindred.
The RiverHawks began the third quarter off with a 9-5 run making it 33-28 with 6:23 left following a pair of free throws, Southern would respond with a 10-4 run capped off by a Johns free throw with 3:26 left giving the Lions a 38-37 lead. To close out the quarter Northeastern State went on an 8-4 run to reclaim the lead and head into the fourth quarter up 45-42.
Southern began the fourth quarter off with a bang as a Jones three with Hunnicutt picking up the assist jump started a 10-0 run for a 52-45 lead with 4:18 left. Northeastern State made their first points of the quarter with 3:12 left with a pair of free throws with the Lions only allowing six points in the quarter and on offense the Lions went 4-of-5 from the field in the last three minutes and coasted to a 63-51 road win.
Up next for the Lions will be Rogers State on Saturday in Claremore, Okla. with tip off from the Claremore Expo Center set for 1:30pm.
The Missouri Southern women's basketball season is presented by People's Bank of Seneca, a proud supporter of Lion Athletics.
