Late Lion drought leads to road defeat at NSU

Box Score

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. -- Missouri Southern shot only 33.3 percent from the field and went scoreless for a stretch of nearly five minutes late in the second half of a 56-47 loss Tuesday (Nov. 22) at Northeastern (Okla.) State.

The Lady Reds went on a 9-0 run after Missouri Southern tied the score at 41 on a jumper from freshman Meghan Welch with 7:43 to go. But that was the last score the Lions would get over a stretch of 4:45 as NSU built a 50-41 lead with three minutes left.

Missouri Southern (2-2) trimmed the lead to six on a three-pointer from Welch with 1:16 to go. However, a Verressa Gaston layup with 51 seconds to play sealed the win for NSU (2-1).

The Lions shot only 28.6 percent (8-28) in the first half, but still led by as many as six points after a 16-2 run that featured six points each from Welch and junior Marina Caran. The Lady Reds led by as much as eight in the first half, as they started the game on a 13-5 run over the first 7:25.

After a 23-23 tie at halftime, Missouri Southern maintained a lead through the early minutes of the second half. But NSU got 12 second-half points from Gaston and nine more from Katrina Webb. Gaston had six points in the final seven minutes, including two free throws with 6:43 left that gave the Lady Reds the lead for good.

Gaston finished with a game-high 18 points off the bench, while Webb added 11.

Missouri Southern was led by Dacie Reutlinger's 14 points. Welch added 11 points for Missouri Southern, which got 10 rebounds from Robin Kantin and four assists and four steals from Caran.

The Lions will resume action on Friday at 5:30 p.m. against Evangel (Mo.) in the Pittsburg State Thanksgiving Classic. On Saturday, Southern gets a rematch with Southwestern Oklahoma State at 5:30 p.m. at Pitt State. SWOSU beat Missouri Southern 58-52 last week at the MSSU Pizza Hut/Fairfield Inn Classic.