FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mar. 6, 2009

Lions advance to second round of MIAA Tournament with 62-57 win over Central Missouri

Box Score

Kansas City, Mo. -  Danielle DeVader hit a career-high seven threes to lift the fifth-seeded Missouri Southern Lions into the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament with an exciting 62-57 over the fourth-seeded Central Missouri Jennies Friday afternoon (Mar. 6) at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. The Lions will now face the No. 1 seed Emporia State Lady Hornets on Saturday night (Mar. 7) at 6 p.m.

A three by Jolea Apon gave the Lions a four-point lead at 55-51 with 4:17 left. The Jennies quickly tied the score on consecutive layups from Deidra Dace and Katy Davenport with 2:32 remaining.

After DeVader's seventh three snapped the tie at the 2:08 mark, Rebecca Roberts brought the Jennies within a point with 1:10 left.

On the Lions' next possession, Nichole Helfrich drew a foul inside and stepped to the charity stripe and nailed two critical free throws for a 60-57 lead with 42 seconds remaining.

The Lions then played stellar defense and forced Dace to take miss a tough three-pointer with the shot clock winding down and Wood secured the rebound.

Wood followed that by making a pair at the line to seal the Lions' first MIAA Tournament victory since the Tournament relocated to Kansas City for the 2002-03 season.

The opening half was close in the early going but the Jennies built a 27-17 lead at the 5:08 point with a 12-3 run that turned a one-point lead into a 10-point cushion.

DeVader brought the Lions back with three treys as Southern closed out the half on a 14-7 run to cut the lead to 34-31 at the break.

The Jennies quickly extended the lead to nine with a 6-0 spurt to open the second half to lead 40-31.

Myosha Barnes then scored seven points to spark an 11-0 Lion run, including a driving layup that gave the Lions their first lead since the 13:18 mark of the first half. The Lions' defense forced eight straight misses and three turnovers in holding the Jennies scoreless during the 4:41 stretch.

DeVader had game-highs of 21 points and nine rebounds to lead the Lions. Barnes finished with 15, while Wood added 11 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the charity stripe.

Katy Davenport led the Jennies (17-11) with 12 points. Roberts had 10 points and a team-high eight boards.

The Lions were out-rebounded 37-27 overall and 13-5 on the offensive glass, but offset that by holding the Jennies to 39.6 percent (21-of-53) from the field and only 32.1 percent (9-of-28) in the second half.

Southern's perimeter defense was even stingier, limiting the Jennies to only a 14.3 percent (2-of-14) shooting clip from three-point distance.