Joplin, Mo. - The 11th ranked Missouri Southern women's basketball program will be taking the first road trip of 2023 with treks to Hays, Kan. and Kearney, Neb. in an battle atop the MIAA standings. The Lions are set to play Fort Hays State tomorrow at 5:30pm from Gross Memorial Coliseum and wrap up the week with #22 Nebraska - Kearney on Saturday with tip off from the Health & Sports Center set for 2:00pm.
Game Information
Teams: #11/7 Missouri Southern (12-2, 4-2 MIAA) vs Fort Hays State (12-4, 7-1 MIAA), #22/RV Nebraska - Kearney (13-3, 6-2 MIAA)
Dates: Jan. 5th & 7th, 2022
Tip-Off: 5:30 pm (Thursday) & 2:00 pm (Saturday)
Location: Hays, Kan. (Thursday) & Kearney, Neb. (Saturday)
Sites: Gross Memorial Coliseum (Thursday) & Health & Sports Center (Saturday)
Series Record: Fort Hays State leads 36-19, 23-5 in Hays, Kan. & Lions lead Lopers 21-18, tied 10-10 in Kearney, Neb.
Coaches
MSSU: Ronnie Ressel, 92-91 (7th Season Overall / at MSSU)
FHSU: Tony Hobson, 737-219 (31st Season Overall), 324-113 (15th Season at FHSU)
UNK: Carrie Eighmey, 218-103 (10th Season Overall), 150-72 (7th Season at UNK)
Media Coverage
MSSU Radio: Mike McClure - Play by play - 101-7 the Vault - 101.7 FM
Video/Stats - https://www.mssulions.com/coverage
Lions on Facebook: Facebook.com/mososports
Lions on Twitter: @mososports; @MssuWbb
Scouting The Tigers
Last season Fort Hays State went 30-4, 19-3 MIAA and was one of four MIAA teams to make the Central Regional losing to Missouri Western in the championship game after claiming a share of the MIAA regular season with the Lions and beating them in the MIAA Tournament championship game. This season the Tigers are off to a 12-4, 7-1 MIAA start with their lone loss being a 63-62 decision in Warrensburg against #11 Central Missouri on Dec. 31st. Leading the way this season is Katie Wagner at 13.9 points and 7.5 rebounds a game with Olivia Hollenbeck the other averaging double figures in scoring at 12.5 and grabbing 4.8 rebounds a night to go with 22 blocks and 16 steals. Ellie Stearns has started in all 16 games as a freshman and is averaging 6.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists a game while making 25 threes. Megan Earney (5.4), Sydney Golladay (5.1) and Kate Dilsaver (4.6) round out the starting unit with Wagner missing out on the last two games. Golladay is the leading assister with 64 for a 4.0 average this season.
Sophomores Leading The Charge
This season Fort Hays State is leaning on two sophomores to account for a bulk of the scoring load as Jaden Hobbs and Whitney Randall ended their storied careers last season. Katie Wagner and Olivia Hollenbeck have so far accounted for 35.9 percent of the scoring, 31.0 percent of the rebounds and between them have dished out 35 assists with 31 blocks and 33 steals. Wagner has not played in the last two games but Hollenbeck has shaken off an early season scoring rut and is averaging 13.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks a game during her 12 starts this season.
Lopers In The Lens
Last season Nebraska - Kearney went 24-8, 17-5 MIAA and was one of four MIAA teams to make the Central Regional losing to Missouri Western in the Seminfinals.This season the Lopers are off to a 13-3, 6-2 MIAA start and are ranked 22nd in the latest WBCA poll. Leading the charge is Shiloh McCool with 11.9 points and 5.7 rebounds a game with Elisa Backes the other Loper to average dobule figure scoring at 10.3 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 27-of-100 from three and coming away with 24 blocks. Sarah Schmitt is averaging 8.8 poins, 3.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists a game, Klaire Kirsch is averaging 8.4 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds a game while coming away with 25 steals and to round out the starting unit Trinity Law is averaging 7.9 points and 2.1 rebounds while shooting 33-of-39 from free throws.
Super Seniors
This season the Lopers will rely once again on the core group of Elisa Backes, Maegan Holt, Klaire Kirsch and Brooke Carlson with each using the additional year of eligibly offered by the NCAA. The four own the top four marks among active players in Divsiion-II for career games played and have been named All-MIAA in at least two seasons. Backes who has tranistioned from bench spark to one of the primary offensive options and a starter is having another complete season stuffing the stat sheet with averages of 10.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steals a game. Holt is a bench option this season alongside Carlson with the duo averaging a combinded 8.4 points and 5.6 rebounds a game while playing close to 14 minutes each. Kirsch is the career leader in rebounds collecting 1,053 in 131 games as a Loper and is averaging 7.1 boards this season to go with 8.4 points per game.
WBCA Update
With the latest edition of the WBCA poll the Lions are still ranked in the top-25. The Lions were ranked in the top-five for three straight weeks to go with being in the top-10 for 12th weeks overall. In the WBCA history the Lions have featured in 27 weeks and have gone from 19th-10th- 5th-4th-3rd-9th-11th in the rankings.
3's Are Timeless
652 Straight games have been played by the Lions where at least one three was made, the streak began back in the 1999-00 season after the first weekend of the season where the Lions went 0-7 from deep on Nov. 20th, 1999 in Tahlequah, Okla against Southern Arkansas losing 68-53. During the streak the Lions have made one three in 25 games, two in 53 games, three in 68 games, four in 81 games, five in 89 games, six in 91 games, seven in 65 games, eight in 64 games, nine in 50 games, 10 in 35 games, 11 in 10 games, 12 in 10 games, 13 in eight games and 14 in three games.
Small Town Missouri
This season the Lions will have four members of the team from small towns in Missouri on the roster with Layne Skiles from Purdy, Madi Stokes from Cassville along with Lacy Stokes and Cameron Call hailing from Mount Vernon. Combined the three towns have a population of 8,728 which accounts for 16.8 percent of the population of Joplin (51,846). The towns are connected by a 50 minute drive going from Cassville-to-Purdy-to-Mount Vernon and are each under an hour and a half drive from Joplin.
Anchors Down, Aye, Aye, Captain!
A common theme of teams coached by Ronnie Ressel is their defensive ability and this season the Lions rank 21st in Division-II for field goal percentage defense (35.0), ninth for blocks per game (4.9) and 38th for scoring defense (57.4). In the MIAA the Lions are the leaders in blocks per game and field goal percentage defense while being fourth for scoring defense and fifth for three point percentage defense (27.3).
The Stokes Act. 2
The dynamic duo of Lacy and Madi Stokes may have a near telepathic relationship on the court but the two are not as similar as they may seem on paper. Both are from small towns in Missouri and own program records for their freshman years but neither is related to each other. Lacy is a lefty point guard standing at 5-4 while Madi is a right handed center standing at 6-3. Madi is entering her fifth season around the program after redshirting as a true freshman in the 2018-19 season, while Lacy is entering her second season for the Green and Gold. Both have scored over 815 career points and grabbed over 220 rebounds in their careers but Madi holds the advantage in career blocks (163-3) and field goals made (346-292) with Lacy holding the advantage in career steals (144-35), free throws made (215-124) and assists (254-64).
Madi's Specialty
Madi Stokes is the only Lion ever to have four straight seasons of 30 or more blocks with Caryn Schumaker from 1988-91 having seasons of 38, 39 and 30 blocks to be the only other Lion with at least three years of 30 or more blocks. Stokes holds the second and third best block totals for a single season in program history along with having the second and fourth best per game average as well. Among single game ranks she is the only Lion to ever have a 5, 6 and 7 block game and has had 11 games with four or more blocks in her career.
The 500 Point Quartet
Coming into the season Amaya Johns (637) needed just eight more points to become the 66th Lion in program history to score 500 career points, she duly delivered in the season opener against #23 Lubbock Christian to join teammates: Layne Skiles (886), Lacy Stokes (855) and Madi Stokes (816) with all three crossing the threshold last season.
The Thieves of 22-23
This season the Lions are averaging 9.1 steals a game with Lacy Stokes leading the way with 43 steals (3.07), Layne Skiles has 15, Kryslyn Jones has 14, Kaitlin Hunnicutt has 11 with Amaya Johns and Hailey Grant coming away with eight steals. Lacy ranks 4th nationally and is second in the MIAA for steals and for steals per game she is 16th in Division-II and second in the MIAA.
November Recap
This season the Lions began the season off by playing three teams either receiving votes or were ranked in the WBCA poll and have beaten the preseason ranked first and third teams in the GAC, second team in the NSIC, along with the second and fourth teams in the LSC. Week 1 the Lions got wins over Lubbock Christian and Minnesota - Duluth, the first in series history against the schools. Week 2 saw a trip to Searcy, Ark. where the Lions avenged losses from last season against Henderson State and Harding in the MIAA/GAC Challenge with the Stokes' averaging 7.5 points, 17.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 2.0 blocks per game. Week 3 had just Angelo State on the schedule and the Lions made a statement 83-66 win with four reaching double figures in Kryslyn Jones (18), Lacy Stokes (17), Amaya Johns (16) and Layne Skiles (12). Week 4 had Missouri S&T and Central Christian College coming to Joplin and the Lions set down the Miners and Tigers in convincing fashion. Against CCC, Southern would set two new program records, tie one program record, set 27 individual career-highs and tie 14 individual career-highs. The team three pointers attempted record was set originally at Truman State (Jan. 25, 2004) and tied last season against Lincoln (Dec. 18, 2021) and is now at 35. The bench scoring effort by Mia Topping (16), Hailey Grant (13), Cameron Call (12), Amaya johns (10) and Peyton Mosley (10) is the first time ever in program history to have five off the bench reach double figure scoring. For the first time since Feb. 25, 1986 against William Jewell in the NAIA District 16 Tournament the Lions had three players achieve double digit rebounds, against the Cardinals all three were starters in Gayle Klenke (12 points, 12 rebounds), Anita Rank (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Margaret Womack (26 points, 12 rebounds) while against the Tigers Madi Stokes (12 rebounds, 6 points) was the lone starter as Hailey Grant (14 rebounds, 13 points) and Amaya Johns (10 rebounds, 10 points) came off the bench and achieved a double-doubles.
December Recap
The last month of 2022 started off with a defensive battle in Week 1 against Northwest Missouri with the Lions prevailing 52-37 to begin MIAA play and saw Layne Skiles set a new program record for career games played making her 120th appearance. Game two of December had the Griffons come to town with the Lions able to complete a comeback and roar out 75-69 winners in the first MIAA weekend as Lacy Stokes (18), Kryslyn Jones (15) and Hailey Grant (13) fueled the win and provided key moments in the Lions 30 point fourth quarter. Week 2 saw the Lions pick up road wins over Central Missouri and Newman with Lacy Stokes being named MIAA A.O.W for the week after averaging 16.5 points, 6.5 assists, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 steals and had a 13.00 assist-turnover ratio. Week 3 had just one game on the schedule for the Lions in #17 Central Missouri with Lacy Stokes going for 31 points, six assists, six rebounds and no turnovers in 38 minutes with a late comeback attempt falling just short and saw the teams 19 game MIAA,13 game home and 11 season opening game winning streaks get snapped with the MIAA streak being the longest in program history and the home and season opening winning streaks being the second longest in program history. Week 4 saw the Lions get back to winning ways with a 93-47 blowout against Illinois Springfield inside L&P where Lacy Stokes went for 14 points and seven steals to tie a career high mark in the category.
January Recap So Far
Week 1 of the month started with a rivalry game against Pittsburg State in Joplin that saw Lacy Stokes go for 28 points while adding four steals and three assists. Layne Skiles added 13 points and a career-high tying three blocks with Amaya Johns adding 13 points and six rebounds off the bench.
The Missouri Southern women's basketball season is presented by People's Bank of Seneca, a proud supporter of Lion Athletics.
