Kearney, Neb. – The 11
th ranked Missouri Southern women's basketball team ended the week with a 54-51 defeat inside the Health & Sports Center to #22 Nebraska – Kearney.
The Lions (12-4, 4-4 MIAA) were led by
Lacy Stokes with 16 points, four assists and three steals.
Kryslyn Jones had nine points paired with two assists and two steals,
Madi Stokes had eight points and eight rebounds with
Layne Skiles scoring seven points, grabbing seven rebounds and having three assists as well.
Amaya Johns led the bench with four points, five rebounds and two steals.
The Lopers (15-3, 8-2 MIAA) were led by Trinity Law with 15 points while Klaire Kirsch had a 10 point 11 rebound double-double and four assists. Shiloh McCool had 12 points and nine rebounds as well. Brooke Carlson led the bench with five points and three rebounds.
As a team the Lions held the advantage in free throw percentage 70.0-66.7), offensive rebounds 12-6, steals 9-6, points off turnovers 20-7, second chance points 9-5 and forced UNK into 17 turnovers the most turnovers they have committed this season.
In the first quarter both teams got out to a quick start with the first five minutes of the game seeing five lead changes with UNK leading 11-9 following Law's third three of the game with 5:10 remaining in the quarter. The Lopers would end the quarter on a 11-5 run making it 22-14 at the end of the first.
The second quarter saw a 15-5 swing by the Lopers but in the last two minutes the Lions shutout the hosts and a pair of
Lacy Stokes threes cut the lead down to 12, 37-25 heading into the half.
Coming out the half the Lions went on a 9-3 run capped off by a
Kaitlin Hunnicutt layup and-one with Jones picking up the assist, making it 40-34 with 5:39 left in the third quarter. For the rest of the quarter it was a defensive battle resulting in a 46-38 score in favor of the Lopers heading to the fourth.
To begin the fourth quarter the Lions enjoyed a 5-0 run with Jones making a pair of baskets and Lacy picking up the assists to trim the lead down to three, 46-43 with 6:30 remaining. Following a Lopers and-one Lacy sank her third three of the game to make it a three point game again and with 2:37 left in regulation sank her fourth three to make it a two point game at 53-51.
Following a made free throw by the Lopers with 41 second left the Lions got off a shot with 17 second left and was able to collect the rebound before calling a timeout with eight seconds left to set up one last play, but coming out of the timeout the three point shot was blocked.
Up next for the Lions will be Washburn (7-6, 3-4 MIAA) on Thursday and Emporia State (9-6, 4-5 MIAA) on Saturday. Both games will be at home with tip off from the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center set for 5:30pm against the Ichabods and 1:30pm against the Lady Hornets.
Career Rankings Update:
Lacy Stokes – Passed Nancy Somers (91-93), Lyndsey Kenealy (96-00) and Terri Hayes (89-91) for 24
th in points with 875 currently. Passed Dru Clark (14-18) and Meghan Welch (05-06) for 25
th in three pointers made with 60 currently. Passed Gayle Klenke (83-87) for sole possession of eighth in assists with 266.
Layne Skiles – Became the 20
th Lion in program history to score 900 or more career points with 902 currently.
Madi Stokes – Tied with Danielle DeVader (05-09) for 29
th in points with 836 currently.
The Missouri Southern women's basketball season is presented by People's Bank of Seneca, a proud supporter of Lion Athletics.
