Kansas City, Mo. - The Missouri Southern women's basketball program advanced to the MIAA Tournament championship game after beating number one seeded Nebraska - Kearney, 63-51 on Saturday inside historic Municipal Auditorium.
The Lions (26-6, 16-6 MIAA) were led by
Lacy Stokes with 28 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Amaya Johns had 11 points off the bench and collected eight rebounds,
Madi Stokes had 12 rebounds, eight points and two blocks.
Nebraska - Kearney (28-4, 20-2 MIAA) was led by Klaire Kirsch with 12 points and seven rebounds.
In the first quarter the Lions would strike first and score the first eight points in the game with a
Mia Topping fast break driving layup with 5:15 capping off the game starting run. Nebraska - Kearney grabbed the lead with 1:18 left in the quarter but a pair of
Lacy Stokes free throws with six seconds left put the Lions ahead 12-11 after the first quarter.
The second quarter would see the Lopers grab an early lead before the Lions went on a 10-0 run to reclaim the lead and make it a six point advantage, 22-16 with 4:04 left in the half. Southern stretched the lead up to eight, 27-19 with 1:38 remaining following a Johns three and would have a 29-23 lead at the half.
At the half
Lacy Stokes led the way with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists with
Amaya Johns scoring five,
Mira Khan and
Madi Stokes scoring four points with Madi grabbing a team-high six rebounds. As a team the Lions were shooting 46.2 percent from the field, 12-for-26 while holding the Lopers to 25.8 percent from the field, 8-for-31. Southern would hold a 14-6 advantage on points in the paint and 11-5 advantage in bench points
The Lions would get the lead up to five three separate times before the media timeout with 2:59 left in the third quarter and went on a quick 6-2 run to extend the lead to 45-38 with 1:29 left from a
Lacy Stokes turnaround jump shot in the paint. Lacy would sink a three with 36 seconds left to extend the lead to eight but a Lopers layup before the end of the quarter made it 48-42 in favor of the Lions as Lacy scored 14 points in the quarter.
Nebraska - Kearney got to within three, 50-47 with 8:14 left in the fourth quarter but wouldn't get any closer to tying or claiming a lead in the quarter. Southern made six straight free throws in a three minute span to get a double figure lead, 60-49 with 1:02 remaining. The Lions would keep control of the game in the last minute to secure a historic 63-51 win and advance for the second straight year to the MIAA Tournament Championship game.
As a team the Lions held the advantage over the Lopers in field goal percentage 40.0 - 31.1, free throws made 14 - 5, rebounds 40 - 36, defensive rebounds 33 - 27, blocks 4 - 2, points off turnovers 7 - 5, points in the paint 28 - 20, second chance points 6 - 5, fast break points 8 - 2 and bench points 17 - 9. Southern held the lead for 34:14 of the game with four lead changes and two ties.
Up next is the MIAA Tournament Championship against number two seeded Central Missouri, tip is set for 3:30pm on Sunday from historic Municipal Auditorium with the winner claiming an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Career Update
Lacy Stokes moved past Beck (Fly) Woods (1982-86)Â for 13th in scoring with 1,145 points following tonight. Lacy also moved past Chelsey Henry (15-19) for seventh in made free throws with 274.Â
Single-Season Update
Lacy Stokes moved past Brenda Pitts (1981-82) for third in assists with 163, tied with KaTonya Samuels (1996-97) for seventh in steals with 82 and moved past Marie Scott (1995-96) for the tenth in points with 533.
Madi Stokes moved past Anita Rank (1987-88) for tenth in rebounds with 276.
The Missouri Southern women's basketball season is presented by People's Bank of Seneca, a proud supporter of Lion Athletics.
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