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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Lions secure seventh
straight win with hard-fought OT win over SBU; Clinch berth in MIAA
Tournament Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Lions clinched a spot in the MIAA Postseason Tournament with their seventh consecutive victory, a 92-87 overtime win over the Southwest Baptist Bearcats Saturday evening (Jan. 31) at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. The seven-game winning streak in the MIAA equals the Lions' longest within the conference since the 2003-04 campaign. The Lions won nine straight in the MIAA during the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons. The Lions scored the first three points of the overtime session on a free throw by Nichole Helfrich and a layup off a steal from Danielle DeVader. Rachel Graves hit a jumper for SBU and Mia Gilreath split a pair at the free throw line to tie the score at 80-80 with 3:07 left in the extra session. That's when the Lions took charge as Myosha Barnes nailed a jumper and Lindsey Davis scored four straight points on a jumper and two free throws for a six-point lead with just 1:04 remaining. DeVader and Davis each hit two free throws in the final 41 seconds to help the Lions hold off the Bearcats and seal the victory. The Lions rallied to send the game into overtime as they trailed 77-73 with just 2:09 remaining in regulation, but Helfrich hit a layup and Barnes drove the lane to score the tying bucket with 11 seconds left. Southern then forced a miss on the defensive end to force the extra session. SBU (7-12, 4-8 MIAA) expanded a two-point halftime lead into a eight-point advantage early in the second half, but the Lions quickly erased that with a 11-2 run that was sparked by eight points from Helfrich to lead 43-42 with 14:35 left. The Bearcats then went on a run of their own as they out-scored the Lions 10-2 over the next 2:25 that was capped by a layup from Courtney Creed for a 52-45 SBU lead. SBU maintained a seven-point advantage when the Lions went on a 14-5 spurt led by DeVader's two threes to lead 65-63 with 6:17 remaining. Gilreath then hit a three and made a pair of free throws to give SBU a 68-65 lead. DeVader responded with two more treys to help the Lions to a 71-70 lead with 4:45 remaining. Davis hit a pair of threes in the early going to help the Lions jump out to an 11-7 lead. Gilreath answered with a trey for SBU before Jolea Apon hit from long-range to give the Lions a four-point lead again with 13:39 left in the opening half. Gilreath put the Bearcats back on top with another three at the 9:34 mark and Creed hit from beyond the arc that made it 21-18 in favor of SBU. The Lions quickly went back ahead in the see-saw first half as Michelle Hedgecock made a layup and Davis nailed her third three of the first half to give Southern a 24-23 advantage with 4:43 left. Southern led 27-24 when threes by Creed and Cortney Shewmaker each hit a three that put the Bearcats up 31-27 with 1:52 left in the first half. The Bearcats went on to lead 33-31 at the break. Helfrich led the Lions (16-4, 10-3 MIAA) with a career-high 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field. DeVader hit four threes and wound up with 20 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Davis added 17 and a team-high eight assists. Barnes finished with 17 and Hedgecock had 10. Graves led SBU with 26, while Gilreath had 15 and led the Bearcats with seven boards. The Lions will be off on Wednesday (Feb. 4) before playing at Missouri Western at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday evening (Feb. 7) in St. Joseph, Mo. The Lions defeated Western 58-57 earlier this season on New Year's Eve (Dec. 31) in Joplin.
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