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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Lions lose regular
season finale at Missouri Western, 70-58 St. Joseph, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern Lions committed 26 turnovers in a 70-58 loss at the Missouri Western Griffons in the regular season finale Saturday night (Mar. 1) in St. Joseph, Mo. India Wood and Fatai Hala'Api'api combined for 12 points in the early going as the Lions went ahead 22-15 with 7:44 remaining the first half. But the turnovers then piled up on the Lions as the Griffons surged ahead with a 14-0 run over the next 4:25. Jill Johnson and Tierra Ford scored a combined 12 points to lead the charge. During that span, the Lions turned the ball over seven times. The Griffons went on to lead 33-29 at the half. A jumper by Ford extended the Griffons lead to 44-35 with 14:47 remaining, but the Lions scored eight of the next 10 points to come within 46-43 with 13:02 left. The Griffons (12-14, 7-11 MIAA) then regained control on a 12-4 run to lead 58-47 on a layup from Yanique Javois with 7:50 remaining. MWSU maintained at least a nine-point lead the rest of the way. Wood scored 15 to lead the Lions. Fatai also reached double-figures with 10. Tynesha Pierce tallied eight along with a game-high nine rebounds. Javois scored a game-high 26 points for the Griffons on 10-of-14 from the field. Jill Johnson scored 19 and made all eight of her free-throw attempts. Chemia Woods contributed eight points and 10 assists. The Lions (18-9, 9-9 MIAA) shot 37.3 percent (19-of-51) from the field. The Griffons were 48.9 percent (23-of-47) from the floor, with a red-hot 59.1 percent (23-of-47) shooting clip in the second half. Southern held a 36-25 edge in rebounds, including a 14-4 edge on the offensive glass. The Lions will now gear up for the MIAA Postseason Tournament beginning on Thursday (Mar. 6) at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. MSSU will be the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 seed Northwest Missouri at approximately 2:30 p.m. The Lions and Bearcats split the season series, with each squad winning on the road.
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