FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 17, 2007

24th ranked Lions remain undefeated with 70-62 win at Northeastern State

Box Score

Tahlequah, Okla. - The No. 24-ranked Missouri Southern Lions used an inspired second half and held on to defeat the Northeastern State Riverhawks 70-62 to improve to a perfect 8-0 on the season Monday night (Dec. 17) in Tahlequah, Okla.

The first half was a see-saw affair and with Southern trailing 31-28, Trice Bonner knocked in a trey and converted two free-throws to give the Lions a 33-31 advantage at the break.

The Lions opened the second half on a 7-0 run to take a 40-31 lead. Tynesha Pierce hit a three-pointer and a layup and India Wood nailed a jumper in transition to key the spurt.

The Riverhawks' Verressa Gaston then converted a three-point play to cut the lead to 40-34, but Ela Zawadka put in one of her three treys on the night to put the Lions back up by nine at 43-34 with 14:58 left.

Southern later out-scored the Riverhawks (3-7) 10-4 over a stretch of 3:45 as Ivaney Marquez capped it with a three-pointer to give the Lions their largest lead of the night at 64-48 with 5:34 remaining in the game.

After the Riverhawks trimmed the lead down to nine, Bonner rebounded her own missed shot and hit a jumper to give the Lions a 68-57 lead with 1:34 left.

But NSU wasn't through as Katie Beshoner made a layup and Sarah Miller hit from long-range to make it 68-62 with 51 seconds remaining.

Wood then missed the front end of a one-on-one opportunity but Ivaney Marquez made a critical steal on the defensive end and then knocked down a pair of big free throws that put the Lions up by the final margin of 70-62.

Zawadka led four Lions in double-figures with 13 and hit 3-of-5 from three-point distance. Wood and Bonner each scored 11 and Fatai Hala'api'api put in 11 and led the Lions with a game-high 10 rebounds.

Gaston led the Riverhawks with 12 points and six boards.

The Lions (8-0) shot a blazing 58.3 percent (14-of-24) in the second half to wind up at 53.1 percent for the game (26-of-49).

NSU was 21-of-50 (42 percent) from the field for the game.

MSSU will attempt to head into the Christmas break undefeated by wrapping up non-conference action with a home date against Evangel (Mo.) on Wednesday night (Dec. 19). Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.