Central Missouri stops Lions, 74-66

Box Score


JOPLIN, Mo. -- Central Missouri State used an 11-3 run over a 1:40 span early in the second half to take control of a close game and hand Missouri Southern its second straight loss, 74-66, Wednesday night (Feb. 8) at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

The loss drops the Lions to 14-9 overall and into a tie for the fourth spot in the MIAA with Missouri Western at 6-6 in the conference. The Jennies move to 15-7 overall and 7-4 in the MIAA for third place.

After freshman Meghan Welch (Goddard, Kan.) hit a three-pointer to make the score 39-38 Central with 14:00 remaining in the second half, the Jennies went on their spurt as Lindsey Maple and Anna Rorvig each converted three-point plays and Maple capped off the run with a trey to put the Jennies on top 50-41 with 12:20 left.

The Lions battled back to trim CMSU's lead to four twice, the last time being on a three-pointer from senior Nicole Greninger (Webb City, Mo) that brought the Lions to within 53-49 with 10:24 left.

The Jennies had an answer each time though and outscored Southern 16-6 over the next seven minutes, led by two three-pointers and two free throws by Kara Rewerts. The closest the Lions could get after that was six at 72-66 with 1:04 remaining.

The Lions held an early lead of 11-7 after a layup from Welch with 15:15 to play in the opening half, but CMSU went on a 14-3 scoring burst, capped by a trey from Maple to make it 21-14 Jennies with 11:15 to play in the first half.

Southern slowly climbed back from that seven-point deficit and tied the score at 31-31 heading into the locker room when junior Marina Caran (Kovin, Serbia) hit a layup with two seconds left before halftime.

Missouri Southern was again led by junior Dana-Mae Robbs (Lecompton, Kan.), who finished with a team-high 15 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. Caran added 14, while Welch scored 11 for the Lions.

Maple scored a game-high and career-high 27 points to lead the Jennies, while Rewerts finished with 10 points and was the only other player for CMSU to reach double-figures.

The Lions were out-rebounded by the Jennies 32-31 overall, but enjoyed a 16-9 edge on the offensive glass.

The Lions next travel to Maryville, Mo. to attempt to finish a season-sweep of Northwest Missouri State Saturday afternoon (Feb. 11). Game time is set for 1:30 p.m. The Lions won the season's first matchup between the two schools, 80-71 on Jan. 14 in Joplin.