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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Second half rally falls short in 66-61
loss to NW Missouri State Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Lions rallied from 11 points down in the second half to pull within one on two occasions, but in the end could not overcome 30 turnovers and fell 66-61 to the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats Wednesday night (Jan. 10.) at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. The loss snaps a 10 game home winning streak for the Lions. The Bearcats led by 11 two different times in the second half, with the last being 55-44 with 4:09 left in the game. The Lions could not make much headway into that lead and still trailed 59-49 with just 2:28 left before making their push. A pair of Robin Kantin (Silver Spring, Md.) free throws was sandwiched around two Karina Kuczynski (East Troy, Wis.) buckets that brought the Lions to within 59-55 with 1:34 remaining. After a Bearcat turnover, Kantin knocked down a three-pointer that cut the lead to just one with 1:23 remaining. Mandi Schumacher hit a jumper and then Katie O'Grady made a free throw to push the Northwest lead back to four before Kuczynski rattled home a three to once again bring the Lions to within a point at 62-61 with just 14 seconds left in the contest. The Lions (10-3, 3-2 MIAA) still had a chance after Kelli Nelson hit two free throws to give Northwest a three-point advantage with just seven ticks left, but Southern turned the ball over with two seconds remaining and Nelson hit two more from the charity stripe to seal the victory for the Bearcats (10-4, 3-2 MIAA). Northwest controlled the action for much of the first half, leading by as many as 12 points at 30-18 before settling for a 30-22 lead at halftime. The Lions turned in a strong defensive performance, holding Northwest to only a 35.9 percent (23-of-64) shooting clip for the game. Southern hit 24-of-60 field attempts for a 40 percent shooting percentage. Southern was also very strong on the boards, as has been the case all season. The Lions out-rebounded the Bearcats 53-32 overall, with a 35-23 in defensive rebounds and an 18-9 edge on the offensive glass. The Lions have had the rebounding edge in all but two games this season, with one of those two occasions being a tie in rebounding at Missouri Western. Fatai Hala'Api'Api (Lahaina, Hawaii) led the Lions with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Kuczynski had 11 and a team-high tying four assists. Kantin scored 10 and pulled down seven boards. Schumacher led the Bearcats with 15 points and Nelson wound up with 14. O'Grady had 10 to round out the Bearcats in double-figure scoring. Missouri Southern will look to get back on a winning note by playing Southwest Baptist on Saturday night (Jan. 13) at 5:30 p.m. in Bolivar, Mo. The Lions and Lady Bearcats each won at home last year to split the season series.
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