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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Lions hold on for
critical 58-55 win at Pittsburg State The Gorillas had a chance to tie on the last possession after the Lions missed four of five free throws down the stretch that gave PSU a chance to tie in the final seconds. But Hedgecock intercepted a pass that was intended for Nicole McCombs with 1.4 seconds remaining and then dribbled out the clock for the victory. The Lions led by three at the half when the Gorillas came out firing by opening the second half on a 15-4 run to take their biggest lead at 41-33. Southern fought back to within two on a pair of buckets by Nichole Helfrich and a layup from Randi Henderson that made it 41-39 with 12:46 remaining. The Gorillas regained a six-point advantage on a scores from McCombs and Candice Gilbert before India Wood heated up for the Lions. Wood made a layup that was followed by a score from Lindsey Davis and Jolea Apon that tied the score at 45-45. Wood then struck with a jumper and a three with the shot clock winding down each time that put Southern ahead 50-45 with 6:32 left. After the Gorillas trimmed the lead to two, Hedgecock came through with a layup and two free throws that gave the Lions their largest lead of the game at 55-48 with 3:35 remaining. A pair of turnovers though allowed the Gorillas to hang around and DePrice Taylor scored four of the game's next six points that brought PSU to within 55-54 at the 1:22 mark. Myosha Barnes then split a pair at charity stripe that gave the Gorillas the opportunity to either tie or take the lead. But the Lions forced a missed shot that Davis turned into a layup on the other end along with drawing the foul to put the Lions up 58-54 with 26 seconds left. Davis missed the free-throw opportunity but the Lions then got another stop on the defensive end before again misfiring at the foul line. The Lions then fouled McCombs with eight seconds left on the clock. McCombs made the first then appeared to intentionally miss the second that Gilbert retrieved for the Gorillas but missed a jumper that was rebounded by Danielle DeVader with three seconds left. The Lions got off to a bit of a rough start offensively by missing their first four shots of the contest before treys by Henderson and Tia Evenson gave Southern an early 6-4 lead. The remainder of the first half went back-and-forth that featured five ties and seven lead changes. With the score tied 26-26, Wood nailed a three at the 1:17 mark of the opening half as the Lions took a 29-26 at the break. Wood scored a game-high 17 to lead the Lions. Helfrich also reached double-figures with 10 but her best effort may have been on the defensive end where she helped force the Gorillas' leading scorer and field-goal percentage leader McCombs into a 4-of-11 shooting mark from the field. Davis recorded a team-high six rebounds for the Lions. McCombs had a team-high 14 points and eight boards for the Gorillas. Taylor added 13 for PSU. The Lions (17-5, 11-4 MIAA) shot a solid 47.7 percent (21-of-44) from the field, while holding the Gorillas to only 36.5 percent (19-of-52) from the floor. For the second straight contest, the Lions were difficult to score on from beyond the arc by allowing the Gorillas only a 20 percent (3-of-15) clip from three-point distance. The Lions made 37.5 percent (6-of-16) of their attempts from long-range. The Lions have now allowed the opposition to hit only 4-of-26 from beyond the arc the past two outings. The Lions entered the contest as the No. 6-ranked school in the latest NCAA South Central Region standings, while the Gorillas were unranked in the region. The top eight squads advance the NCAA South Central Region Postseason Tournament. Southern will now gear up for another important MIAA matchup with No. 8-ranked and MIAA leader Emporia State on Saturday evening (Feb. 14). Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. ESU defeated the Lions 83-71 earlier this season (Jan. 7) in Emporia, Kan. With the win tonight, the Lions trail the first-place Lady Hornets by only 2 1/2 games for the top spot in the MIAA.
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