FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 7, 2009

Lions struggle offensively in 52-39 loss at Missouri Western

Box Score

St. Joseph, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Lions came up on the short end of a defensive struggle with the Missouri Western Griffons, falling 52-39 Saturday evening (Feb. 7) in St. Joseph, Mo. The loss is the Lions' first in their last eight outings.

The Griffons grabbed the lead for good at the beginning of the second half as Jessica Koch scored six points to lead an 8-2 spurt for a 25-19 Griffon advantage.

Southern quickly came within one as Lindsey Davis converted a three-point play and Michelle Hedgecock hit a pair of free throws that made it 25-24 with 13:53 left.

The Lions trailed 27-25 when the Griffons scored six of the game's next seven points to go up by seven at 33-26.

India Wood then nailed a trey and Danielle DeVader hit a jumper as the Lions continued to hang around at 33-31 at the 7:06 mark of the second half.

It continued to be a game of short spurts as the Griffons again took control with a 5-0 run off two free throws from Rachel Luteyn and a three-point play by Tierra Ford to regain their seven-point lead at 38-31 with 5:17 left.

After Myosha Barnes hit two at the charity stripe to bring the Lions to within 38-33, the Griffons put it away by extending the advantage to 11 with a 8-2 run to go up 46-35 with only 1:09 remaining.

The contest got off to a slow start as both squads combined to miss their first eight shots before Koch made a layup for a 2-0 Griffon lead nearly four minutes in.

Davis and Randi Henderson each hit from beyond the arc to help the Lions to an early 8-4 lead.

The Lions (16-5, 10-4 MIAA) led 8-7 when Barnes, Wood and Hedgecock each scored to put Southern up 14-7 at the 8:48 mark of the first half.

A 9-1 run then helped the Griffons (4-17, 4-11 MIAA) gain their first lead since the first bucket of the game at 16-15 with 2:29 left until halftime.

The game was tied 17-17 at the break.

Barnes was the lone Lion in double-figures with 12 points and also had a team-high five assists. Helfrich led the Lions with nine rebounds.

Koch paced the Griffons with 13 points and four steals, while Luteyn scored 10 and had game-highs of 11 rebounds and five blocks.

The Lions out-rebounded the Griffons 45-40, with a 16-7 edge on the offensive glass.

Both squads were superb defensively, as the Griffons were held to a 32.7 percent (16-of-49) shooting clip and the Lions only managed to shoot 22 percent (13-of-59) overall. Shots from beyond the arc were even harder to come by, with the Lions making 3-of-20 from three-point range and the Griffons only 1-of-11.

Next up for the Lions is a matchup at Pittsburg State on Wednesday evening (Feb. 11) at 5:30 p.m. in Pittsburg, Kan. The Lions lost earlier this season (Jan. 3) 77-68 against the Gorillas in Joplin.