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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Lions lead throughout
in 64-53 win over Central Missouri Joplin, Mo. -- Fatai Hala'Api'Api and India Wood each scored 14 points as the Missouri Southern Lions led from start to finish in a 64-53 win over the Central Missouri Jennies in MIAA action Wednesday night (Feb. 20) at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. The win completes the first regular season sweep for the Lions over Central since the 1993-94 season. The Lions led by eight at the half, but the Jennies made things interesting in the early part of the second half. UCM out-scored the Lions 12-7 during the first 7:30 after halftime and came within 43-40 on a Kara Fleming layup with 12:29 remaining in the contest. Southern had an answer though and regained command with a 12-0 run to take a 55-40 lead on a three by Tynesha Pierce with 9:14 left. The Lions maintained at least a 12-point advantage from that point. The Lions took an early seven-point lead in the first half as Danielle DeVader knocked in a three to put Southern up 11-4 with 14:11 left. Nichole Helfrich later put in a jumper to extend the Lion lead to 27-13 with 8:15 remaining in the opening half. The Jennies (11-13, 6-9 MIAA) would score the next six points to cut the deficit to 27-19 on three points each from Jojuana Jones and Dominica Blakemore. Southern used eight points each from Fatai and DeVader to build the first-half advantage. Pierce scored 12 to give the Lions three players in double-figure scoring. Fatai and Helfrich each led Southern with seven boards. DeVader hit two from long-range and wound up with eight points and five rebounds. Lindsey Maple led UCM with 14, including 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Kelce Goebel scored 10 and pulled down a team-high six boards. The MSSU defense was stiff all night, holding Central to only 31.9 percent (15-of-47) for the game and 26.9 percent (7-of-26) in the second half. The Lions also benefited from a dominant performance on the boards, out-rebounding the Jennies 43-28 overall with a 16-9 edge on the offensive glass. MSSU is now 17-7 overall and 8-7 in the MIAA, while the Jennies fall to 11-13 and 6-9 in conference action. The Lions entered tonight's contest as the No. 5-ranked squad in the South Central Region. Southern will wrap up their regular-season home schedule with a matchup against the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 23). Tip-time is 1 p.m. The Lions notched a dramatic 65-64 win over the Bearcats in the season's first matchup in Maryville, Mo. Ivaney Marquez put in a layup in the final seconds to give the Lions the victory.
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