East Central wins rematch with Missouri Southern, 72-63

Box Score

ADA, Okla. -- The East Central Lady Tigers held off a late Missouri Southern rally to win the rematch between the two squads, 72-63, Tuesday afternoon (Dec. 20.) in Ada, Okla. The Lions were victorious, 70-68, over ECU in the Nov. 15 season opener.

After sophomore Brianna Volmer (Parsons, Kan.) put the Lions (7-4) up 34-33 with 16:32 remaining in the game, the Lady Tigers outscored Southern 21-6 to go up 54-40 with 8:08 left. The Lions turned the ball over four times and were out-rebounded 8-2 during that span.

The Lions gave themselves a chance late after sophomore Robin Kantin (Silver Spring, Md.) hit two free throws to bring Southern to within four at 65-61 with 43 seconds remaining, but Veronica Valles hit four free throws down the stretch to help seal the victory for ECU.

The Lions came charging out of the gate and scored the game's first seven points and led 16-9 with 10:13 left in the first half. The Lady Tigers (4-4) answered Southern's quick start by scoring the next nine points to lead 18-16 with 6:38 left in the first stanza. The first half was back-and-forth from that point and the two teams went into halftime tied, 26-26.

Southern's defense was solid in the early going, holding ECU to only 23.8 shooting (5-of-21) in the first half. However, poor free-throw shooting hurt the Lions chances of taking control of the game, as MSSU hit only 6-of-16 from the charity stripe in the first half. The Lions made 17-of-32 free throws for the game.

On the flip side, the Lady Tigers made the Lions pay at the free-throw line, knocking down a whopping 35-of-48 attempts from the charity stripe, where they accumulated nearly half of their points. ECU made 20-of-26 free throws in the second half, outscoring the Lions 20-11 at the stripe in a game decided by nine points.

The Lions were led by Kantin, who finished one off her career high with 19 points and five rebounds. Senior Nicole Greninger (Webb City, Mo.) was the only other Lion in double-figures with 12 points, including 3-of-5 shooting from three-point distance.

Tenecia Miller led four Lady Tigers in double-figures 14 points, while Jastin Flenory scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds for ECU.

Missouri Southern will now take 10 days off before resuming Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association action by traveling to St. Joseph, Mo. to face the Missouri Western Griffons Friday (Dec. 30) at 5:30 p.m.