Kansas City, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Women's basketball team (20-8, 16-6 MIAA) begin the MIAA Tournament against conference-rival Pittsburg State in the quarterfinals. The winner will advance to the semifinals to compete against the winner of seed one Missouri Western and seed eight/nine Northeastern State/Emporia State on Saturday, March 9 at 12:00 PM.

Game Information
Teams: Missouri Southern vs Pittsburg State
Date: March 8
Tip-Off: 12:00 PM
Location: Kansas City, Mo.
Site: Municipal Auditorium
Series Record: Lions trail 58-47 | Last Meeting: 2/17/2024, MSSU lost 77-66

Coaches
MSSU: Ronnie Ressel | 8th season at MSSU | 129-104 record
PSU: Amanda Davied | 5th season at PSU | 89-49 record

Media Coverage
Live Audio/Video/Stats - https://www.mssulions.com/coverage
Lions on Facebook:  Facebook.com/mssuwbb
Lions on Twitter: @mssuwbb; @mososports
Lions on Instagram: @mssuwbb

Scouting the Lions
The Missouri Southern Lions begin the MIAA Tournament against conference-rival Pittsburg State to which they split the regular season series 1-1 with both teams winning on the road. The Lions finished the regular season 20-8 to accomplish their third straight 20-win season.  

Brandi Hudson led the Lions with 17 points (5-11 FG, 7-10 FT) seven rebounds and three steals in the loss to Northwest Missouri in the final game of the regular season. Maggie Sockey finished with 11 points (4-8 FG), and Kryslyn Jones posted 10 points (4-12 FG).

Kryslyn Jones leads the Lions in points per game with 12.4 ppg. Three other Lions average double-digit points per game as well, Ryan Franklin (11.6), Brandi Hudson (11.1) and Kaitlin Hunnicutt (11.0). Ryan Franklin also leads the rebounding category with 5.8 rpg.

Scouting the Gorillas
The Gorillas of Pittsburg State wrapped up their regular season with a 21-7 (15-7 MIAA) record which earned them fifth in the conference. The Gorillas ended their season with a home loss to #19 Missouri Western, 68-61, after defeating Emporia State, 72-56, at home and Nebraska-Kearney, 85-57, on the road.

Leading the scoring for Pittsburg State is Karenna Gerber, a 6-0 Junior Forward/Center. Through 28 games, Gerber averages 16.1 points per game on 58.7% shooting from the field. Gerber is a two-time MIAA Athlete of the Week as well as named to the All-MIAA First Team and Defensive Team.

Two other Gorillas average double-digits as well, All-MIAA First Team Grace Pyle (15.7) and Macie Mays (10.7). The leading rebounder for Pittsburg State is also Gerber, who averages 7.3 rebounds per game.

The Missouri Southern women's basketball season is presented by People's Bank of Seneca, a proud supporter of Lion Athletics.