Lions advance with win over Gorillas
Mar. 3—KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In what head coach Ronnie Ressel said was the best 40 minutes of basketball his squad has played all year, the No. 5 Missouri Southern women advanced in the MIAA tournament with a 75-61 win over No. 4 Pittsburg State on Friday at Kansas City's Municipal Arena.
"I thought today our defense was really, really good," Ressel said. "Holding them to 35% shooting was tremendous for our kids. I'm extremely proud of the kids, they did a great job."
The win not only avenged two earlier season losses to the Gorillas (22-7), but also improves the Lions' (25-6) standing in the regional rankings ahead of Selection Sunday.
Lion sophomore Kaitlin Hunnicutt talked about meeting up with PSU again.
"I know I had kind of a chip on my shoulder," Hunnicutt said. "I haven't played good against Pitt State, either game we played them in regular season — and they're our rival. So, I just wanted to come out and put my best foot forward for the team."
Pittsburg State's only lead evaporated around the 5:47 mark when Missouri Southern's Kaitlin Hunnicutt hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 7-7. The Lions never trailed after that bucket and by 4:30 of the first quarter, had doubled up PSU 14-7.
"I feel like everyone was really involved in the first half offensively," Lacy Stokes said. "To see us all hit some shots gave us some confidence. We knew we had to punch first and we needed to keep them down once we punched and not let them come back. So we just stayed aggressive offensively."
The Lions increased their lead to 18-12 at the end of the first period and started the second quarter with a Madi Stokes bucket underneath and a Lacy Stokes trey that put Southern up 23-12 with nine minutes left in the half.
PSU managed to claw its way back to within 3 points off a Karenna Gerber bucket at 4:37, but the Lions closed out the half on a 9-0 run to take a 37-25 lead into halftime.
The Gorillas came within 10 points at the opening of third quarter, but that is as close as they would get the remainder of the game.
A Lacy Stokes drive to the basket resulted in an and-1 and the Lions were up 40-27 at 9:20 of the third quarter. Southern increased its lead to 16 by 7:30 off a Kryslyn Jones bucket making it 45-29.
The Lions cushioned their lead with three minutes left off a Mia Topping score and Southern was on the good side of a 54-37 game. The Lions closed out the third stanza with a Hunnicutt 3-pointer and went into the final frame with a 57-42 lead.
Southern held its biggest lead of the game with 6:15 left when Jones hit a trey to put the Lions up 68-50. MSSU did not let the Gorillas closer than 12 points the remainder of the game en route to the 75-61 win.
Lacy Stokes led the Lions with 19 points. Hunnicutt added 16, finishing 6 for 7 and netting four treys. Layne Skiles chipped in 8 points and Madi Stokes finished with 11 rebounds and 6 points.
Pittsburg State's Karenna Gerber claimed game high honors with 23 points, while Harper Schreiner pitched in 14.
Southern looks to upset No. 1 Nebraska Kearney at 6 p.m. Saturday at Municipal Arena. The Lions lost both regular season games to the Lopers just like they had with the Gorillas.
UNK beat MSSU 54-51 in early Jan. at Nebraska. In Joplin, the Lopers won 58-56.
