JOPLIN, Mo. – The Missouri Southern women's basketball team picked up its 22nd win on the season with a 61-58 win over Fort Hays on Saturday, February 18. Kryslyn Jones tied for the game-high with 18 points, knocking down four three-pointers.
Southern honored Layne Skiles, Amaya Johns and Cameron Call on senior day for the contributions to the program.
How it Happened
The Lions got out to a fast start, outscoring the Tigers 22-14 in the first quarter. Jones drilled two of her four three-pointers in the first ten minutes of action. As a team, Missouri Southern made four treys in the first stanza.
With three minutes remaining in the second quarter, Mia Topping pushed the lead back to eight as the Tigers attempted to claw their way back into contention. Fort Hays would cut the Lions lead to three just before the break following an and-1.
Fort Hays used this momentum heading into the third quarter, using a 5-0 run to open the quarter and grab a one-point lead. The seesaw of momentum shifted back and forth throughout the duration of the final twenty minutes of action.
Southern took a three-point lead with 11 seconds to play in the third period after another Jones triple. Fort Hays scored to beat the buzzer and trailed by just one heading into the fourth.
Foul shooting provided pivotal in the fourth quarter as the Lions made six from the charity stripe compared to just two from Fort Hays.
Lacy Stokes was the spark as she tallied seven of her 14 points in the final quarter of play, including a pair of free throws with 16 seconds remaining to push the lead to four.
Johns made one final free throw with six seconds to play on the front end of the two foul shots. The Tigers mishandled the rebound off the miss on the second foul shot.
Southern secured the three-point victory and improve to 14-6 in conference play.
The Lions held Fort Hays to 4-16 shooting in the final 10 minutes of action and no three-pointers.
The Lions sit fifth in the MIAA heading into the final week of the regular season.
Notes
Madi Stokes tied the single-season record for blocks with 62 (Zoe Campbell – 2019-20).
The Missouri Southern women's basketball season is presented by People's Bank of Seneca, a proud supporter of Lion Athletics.
