Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern women's basketball team picked up a 85-71 win tonight inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center over Central Oklahoma to extend the win streak to seven.
The Lions (19-4, 11-4 MIAA) were led by
Lacy Stokes with 23 points, six assists, four steals and a block with
Kryslyn Jones and
Madi Stokes having 13 points each as Madi grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and blocked four shots.
Amaya Johns led the bench unit with 12 points and three rebounds and along with
Hailey Grant had two blocks. As a team the Lions had 12 blocks (
Madi Stokes 4, Grant 2, Johns 2,
Kaitlin Hunnicutt 1,
Lacy Stokes 1,
Layne Skiles 1 &
Cameron Call 1) to set the new single-game team record that was 11 against Lincoln on Feb. 29, 2020 in a 85-49 win inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. Â
Central Oklahoma (7-12, 4-11 MIAA) was led by Aspen Williston with 25 points, seven rebounds and six blocks. Karly Wadsworth had 18 points and five assists.
As a team the Lions had the advantage over the Bronchos in field goal percentage 47.5-38.3, three point percentage 50.0-33.3, three pointers made 12-7, rebounds 40-30, offensive rebounds 16-13, defensive rebounds 24-17, assists 20-15, blocks 12-7, bench points 29-13 and second chance points 19-12 while tying for steals 8-8 and points in the paint 22-22 to go with holding a lead in 36:27 of the game.
In the first quarter the Lions got off to an 13-6 run capped off by a pair of
Lacy Stokes free throws at 3:06 that also marked the end of eight straight points scored by the team. The Bronchos would close out the quarter on an 11-6 run but Southern had a 19-17 lead heading into the second quarter.Â
The second quarter was back-and-forth until Central Oklahoma got to within one, 33-32 with 3:52 left in the half that prompted a Lions response. Eight straight points capped off by a Johns jumper at 1:27 opened up the lead to nine and to seal the half off Johns sank a three before the buzzer for a 44-34 scoreline heading into the half.Â
To begin the third quarter both teams traded small runs before a 7-2 run by the Lions made it 69-49 following
Madi Stokes converting a layup and-one play with 1:39 left in the quarter. Central Oklahoma would end the quarter with a 6-1 run but the lead by the Lions was 15 at 70-55 heading to the fourth quarter.Â
In the fourth quarter the Lions got a 7-3 run capped off with a pair of
Lacy Stokes free throws with 4:59 left making it 78-60, and the 12th block of the game by the Lions happened at 4:44 thanks to
Layne Skiles getting a hand on a driving layup in the play following the free throws by Lacy and helped the team coast to a 85-71 final score.Â
Up next for the Lions will be two road game next week beginning with Lincoln on Thursday Feb. 2nd and a ranked Central Missouri on Saturday Feb. 4th. Tip off from Jason Gym in Jefferson City is slated for 5:30pm on Thursday and tip from the Multipurpose Building in Warrensburg, Mo. is set for 1:00pm on Saturday.
Career Update
Lacy Stokes - Needs 13 more points to become the 15th Lion in program history to score 1,000 points in their career and the first since Chelsey Henry (15-19) who finished seventh in program history with 1,296. With with the next assist provided by Lacy it will be her 300th of her career to become the fifth player in program history to do so with Diane Hoch (88-92) the quickest at 54 games with Lacy just completing her 54th career game.
Layne Skiles - Is tied with Fatai Hala 'Api'Api (06-08) for seventh in program history for blocks at 64. Additionally, Skiles is now 28th in steals with 95 to move past Sonya Harlin (93-95). With five more steals Skiles will become the third player in program history to have at least 100 steals and 50 blocks in their career as Anita Rank (84-88) and Erin Rice (09-13) are the only two to accomplish the feat.
Single-Season Update
Madi Stokes - Became the first player in program history to have two seasons with 50 or more blocks and moved into second for blocks in a single-season with 53 currently, the program record set by Zoe Campbell (19-20) as a junior is 62. Currently, Madi is on pace to set the single-season record during the regular season.
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