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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Second half scoring drought costs
Lions in 65-54 loss to No. 3 ranked Washburn Joplin, Mo. - Senior Dana-Mae Robbs (Lecompton, Kan.) exploded for 10 points in just over two minutes to cut a 12 point Washburn lead down to just five, but a long scoring drought followed and the Missouri Southern Lions lost their fifth straight, 65-54 to the No. 3-ranked Washburn Lady Blues Wednesday night (Jan. 24) at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. The loss represents the first five-game losing skid for Southern since the 2002-03 campaign. After Corkey Stiger put the Lady Blues up 46-34 with 15:21 remaining, Robbs scored the next 10 Lion points as Southern outscored Washburn 10-3 to come to within 49-44 with 12:49 left. But that was as close as the Lions (10-7, 3-6 MIAA) came as Washburn scored seven straight points to lead by 12 with 8:19 left. After Robbs' last bucket, the Lions made only other one field goal for nearly 11 minutes as the Lady Blues pulled out to a 19 point lead at 65-46 with 2:20 remaining. The Lady Blues (17-1, 7-1) led the entire contest, jumping out to a 12-4 lead on a three by Corkey Stiger with 13:46 left in the opening half. Washburn extended the advantage to 13 on a layup from Amanda Holmes before the Lions went on a 7-0 spurt that was capped by a layup by Fatai Hala'Api'Api (Lahaina, Hawaii) that brought Southern within 26-20 with 4:17 left in the first half. The third-ranked Lady Blues regained control with a 13-2 run and led by 17 after a trey from leading scorer Brooke Ubelaker put Washburn ahead 39-22. Southern concluded the first stanza by scoring the last seven points and trailed 39-28 at the half. Robbs scored 12 in the second half to lead all scorers with 18, while Tynesha Pierce (Houston, Texas) also reached double-figures for the Lions with 15. Danielle DeVader (Holton, Kan.) tied her career-high with nine rebounds for the Lions. Holmes led the Lady Blues with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Stiger scored 12 and Ubelaker tallied 10. The Lions shot the ball well for most of the game, but the second-half drought brought them down to a 39.2 percent (20-of-51) clip for the night. Washburn shot 42.6 percent (23-of-54) for the game after a blazing 53.8 percent (14-of-26) performance in the opening half. MSSU once again was stout on the boards, out-rebounding the Lady Blues 37-28 overall. But the Lions again was bothered by turnovers, giving the ball away a total of 22 times, including 15 in the first half. Washburn scored 26 off of the Lions turnovers. Southern will next travel to Kirksville, Mo. to face the Truman Bulldogs on Saturday (Jan. 27) at 1:30 p.m. The Lions will be looking for the season sweep after defeating the Bulldogs 53-36 on Dec. 9 in Joplin.
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