FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 24, 2007

Lions knock off No. 2-ranked Missouri Western to earn fifth seed in MIAA Tournament

Box Score

Joplin, Mo. - Senior Dana-Mae Robbs made Senior night memorable by scoring 18 points to lead the Missouri Southern Lions to a remarkable 75-69 win over the No. 2-ranked and MIAA Regular Season Champions Missouri Western Griffons Saturday night (Feb. 24) at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center

The win coupled with losses to Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist places Southern as the fifth seed in the MIAA Tournament.  The Lions will face fourth-seeded Northwest Missouri State on Friday (Mar. 2) at 2:30 p.m. at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.

 Southern built the lead as big as 18 in the second half when Danielle DeVader (Holton, Kan.) nailed a three-pointer to put the Lions ahead 50-32 with 16:08 left in the game.

Yanique Javois and Ashleigh Curry hit a pair of three-pointers to key a 24-13 Griffons run that cut the Lions lead to 63-56 with 3:35 left.

The Lions responded with a jumper from Tynesha Pierce (Houston, Texas) and a pair of free throws from DeVader to push the lead back to 67-56.

MSSU had to withstand one final push from the second-ranked Griffons when Tiffany Davis hit two free throws that brought Western to within 71-66 with 30 seconds left.

But DeVader stepped up and made four crucial free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the huge victory for the Lions.                                                               

The Lions led nearly throughout against the Griffons, as Western s last lead occurred at the 12:12 mark of the first half when Jill Johnson hit a free throw to put the Griffons up 14-13.

From there, DeVader hit a three and Robbs made a layup to key a 6-0 Southern run that put the Lions ahead for good, 20-14 with 9:49 left in the opening half.

The Lions extended the lead to nine at 29-20 on a layup from Fatai Hala Api Api (Lahaina, Hawaii) with 5:12 left in the first half.

Chemia Woods and Ashleigh Curry then each hit a three-pointer to key a 8-2 Griffons run that cut the Lions lead to 31-28 with 3:15 left.

The Lions answered as Robbs, Karina Kuczynski (East Troy, Wis.) and Pierce each hit a pair of free throws to make it 37-28 Lions and Southern went on to hold a 39-30 lead at the half.

Robbs  18 points paced four Lions in double-figures, as DeVader scored 15, including 3-of-4 from three-point range and 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.  Hala Api Api shot 7-of-8 from the floor to finish with 14 points, while Kantin scored 11 and hit 7-of-8 free throws.

Javois and Curry each scored 18 to lead the Griffons, with Inga Buzoka chipping in with 15.

The Lions were out-rebounded 36-35, but out-scored the Griffons 26-16 in the paint.

Southern s defense was stingy all night, holding the Griffons to 36.1 percent (22-of-61) shooting for the game and only a 30.0 percent (9-of-30) shooting clip in the pivotal first half.

The Lions shot 41.7 percent (20-of-48) overall from the floor.

In the MIAA Tournament, MSSU will be looking to avenge two losses to Northwest Missouri earlier in the season, as the Bearcats tripped up the Lions 66-61 in Joplin and 62-51 in Maryville, Mo.

Southern heads to the Postseason Tournament playing its best basketball since the start of the conference season, as the Lions have ended the regular season winners of three of their last four, ironically the exact same way they began the MIAA campaign this season.

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