MSSU AthleticsÂ
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Missouri Southern women’s basketball program picked up its 14th-straight win tonight on the road as they won 55-50 against Washburn inside Lee Arena.
The Lions (21-5, 18-3 MIAA) were paced by Lacy Stokes with 25 points and six rebounds, while Madi Stokes added eight points, going 3-of-4 from the field and adding seven rebounds as well. Amaya Johns led the bench in scoring with seven and came away with four rebounds while Hailey Grant added four points and six rebounds off the bench as well.
Washburn (13-14, 11-10 MIAA) was led by Abby Oliver and Hunter Bentley with 12 points each. For Bentley in her final game inside Lee Arena she also had a game-high three assists to go with two rebounds and a steal in 40 minutes of play. Nuria Barrientos had six points and a team-high seven rebounds while coming away with four steals. Shae Sanchez led the Ichabod bench with five points and added three rebounds and a block as well.
The Lions got on the board with 8:57 left in the first quarter off a Kaitlin Hunnicutt three that was assisted by Layne Skiles, making it 3-2. Following a Washburn layup Brooke Stauffer nailed a three for a 6-4 lead before a pair of Bentley free throws made it 6-6 with 5:28 left in the quarter.
Lacy Stokes answered back with a pair of free throws herself before hitting a step back jumper at the free throw line with 4:27 left in the quarter making it 10-6. The Lions closed out the quarter ahead 14-11 and held the Ichabod to 33.3 percent from the field in the quarter.
Southern began the second quarter with a 5-0 run following a Lacy Stokesand-one with 8:02 remaining for the biggest lead (19-11) of the game so far. Washburn responded with a 6-0 run over 1:15 making it 19-17 with 5:38 left in the first half. Lacy Stokes scored the final five points of the half for the Lions and had 12 points for the game so far as the Lions went into the intermission ahead 24-22.
Madi Stokes got the scoring started in the third quarter with a made jumper assisted by Hunnicutt before a quick 4-0 run by the Ichabods’ made tied it up 26-26 with 8:32 left in the quarter. A 12-0 run by the Lions catapulted them to a 38-26 lead the largest of the game with 3:46 remaining in the third quarter.
Coming into the fourth quarter Lacy Stokes had 23 points for her 12th game this season scoring at least 20 points this season and the Lions were up 43-34. A 8-4 run by Washburn made it 47-42 with 5:01 left in the game before Johns scored on a step back jumper and made a pair of free throws following an Ichabod jumper to make it 51-44 with 3:48 left. Washburn got to within three with less 16 seconds left before a pair of Grant free throws sealed the 55-50 win.
As a team the Lions held the advantage in field goal percentage (34.0-31.7), made three’s (5-3), free throws made (14-9), rebounds (41-37), bench points (11-9), fast break points (7-6 and points off turnovers (14-10).
Up next for the Lions is Central Oklahoma on Saturday to close the regular season. Tip-off from Hamilton Field House is set for 1:30pm. With a win, the Lions will clinch at least a share of the MIAA regular season championship for the first time in program history. A win and a Fort Hays State loss will give the Lions an outright MIAA Title. With a Southern win on Saturday the Lions will head to the MIAA Conference Tournament in Kansas City as the number one seed no matter the result by Fort Hays.