FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2008

Lions upset 12th ranked Washburn, 69-61

Topeka, Kan. - The Missouri Southern Lions used a solid effort on both ends of the floor to gain an important road MIAA victory, 69-61 at the No. 12-ranked Washburn Lady Blues Wednesday night (Jan. 30) in Topeka, Kan. It is the Lions' first win in Topeka since the 1995 season.

The Lions scored the first five points of the contest and built the lead to double-figures at 19-8 on a jumper from India Wood. Lindsey Davis then knocked in a jumper that gave the Lions their largest lead at 31-19.

Washburn answered with an 8-0 spurt that trimmed the lead to 31-27, but the Lions scored three of the final four points of the half to take a 34-28 lead into the locker room.

With the Lions up 40-33 early in the second half, Fatai Hala'Api'Api hit a shot and then Davis drained a three that gave the Lions a double-digit lead again at 45-33.

Southern extended the lead to 14 with a long three-pointer from Wood that made it 48-34 in favor of the Lions. Nichole Helfrich quickly put Southern up by 18 with back-to-back buckets with 11:32 remaining.

Corkey Stiger helped the Lady Blues get back in the game with a couple of treys as part of a 10-0 run that cut the lead to nine at 53-44.

DeVader gave the Lions control of the game again with eight straight points during a critical stretch on an offensive putback and two threes that gave the Lions a 16-pont advantage at 61-45.

WU wouldn't go quietly and climbed to within eight at 64-56 on a layup from Jessica Mainz.

But Tynesha Pierce sealed the victory for Southern by converting a three-point play that put the Lions back up by 11 at 67-56 with 25 seconds left.

Pierce paced the Lions with 17 points on 7-of-10 from the field. Davis had a big game offensively with 14 points and also grabbed seven rebounds. Wood scored 13 and DeVader added 10, all of which came in the second half.

Stiger scored a game-high 23 for the Lady Blues and Mainz added 11. Amanda Holmes also reached double-figures with 10 points and recorded a game-high eight rebounds.

The Lions used a superb defensive performance to hold the Lady Blues to only 36 percent (18-of-50) from the field and only 32 percent (8-of-25) in the second half.

Meanwhile, the Lions were solid offensively with a 53.2 percent (25-of-47) shooting clip for the game against the top-ranked defense in the MIAA. The Lions became the first squad in 89 games to shoot better than 50 percent from the field vs. Washburn.

This season marks the first time the Lions have defeated both MIAA powerhouses Emporia State and Washburn in the same season since the 2003-04 campaign. Southern is currently 2-0 vs. ESU and WU, defeating Emporia 90-71 at home on Jan. 23.

MSSU will now begin an important three-game home stretch, starting with a Saturday afternoon (Feb. 2) matchup with the Truman Bulldogs. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. The Bulldogs won the season's first matchup 68-55 on back on Jan. 2 in Kirksville, Mo.