Mar. 3—The Missouri Southern women’s basketball team fell for the second time this season to Northwest Missouri State University, 69-62, during the Lions’ regular season finale on Saturday at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
The loss dropped the Lions from a possible No. 2 seed in the MIAA tourney to the fourth seed, setting up a game at noon Friday against fifth-seed Pittsburg State (21-7, 15-7) at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
The two teams split their regular season games. MSSU defeated the Gorillas 71-65 at PSU but fell 77-66 to Pitt State at home.
On Saturday, Northwest (22-6, 16-6) took a 22-17 lead after the first quarter of play. The Bearcats gave up just 10 points in the second quarter while tallying 19. They held MSSU to 33% shooting in the second stanza and took a 41-27 lead into halftime.
The teams scored a combined 16 points in the third quarter and Northwest entered the final quarter up 47-37.
Southern (20-8, 16-6) outscored the Bearats 25-22 in the final quarter, but that was not enough to erase the 10-point deficit as the Lions fell on Senior Day.
Brandi Hudson led the Lions with 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals, while Maggie Sockey added 11; Kryslyn Jones added 10 for MSSU.
