MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Missouri Southern women’s basketball program fell on the road against Northwest Missouri in Maryville 78-55 inside Bearcat Arena as Madi Stokes got her sixth double-double of the season.
Southern (7-12, 7-12 MIAA) was led by Stokes with 15 points going 5-of-10 from the field and 5-of-7 from free throws while grabbing 10 rebounds. Layne Skiles provided 10 points and a steal, while Hailey Grant set a career-high for scoring with seven connecting on her three-point attempt and going 4-of-6 from free throws.
Northwest (7-10, 7-10 MIAA) was led by Mallory McConkey with 22 points shooting 10-of-11 from the field, 2-of-2 from three and grabbed eight rebounds. Jayna Green got a double-double posting 12 points and 10 rebounds, Molly Hartnett had 12 points as well and a game-high six assists. Jaelyn Haggard led the bench scoring with 11 points.
Brooke Stauffer got the first points on the board for Southern with a layup on the second possession for the Lions. A pair of free throws from Stokes tied the score at six with 6:39 remaining in the first quarter. Stokes repeated the feat with two free throws with 1:04 remaining to set the score at 12 all.
Skiles got the Lions the lead (16-14) with 8:20 left in the first half with a layup off a Stauffer assist. The Bearcats responded with a 6-0 run to reclaim the lead. Emily Kuntze cut the deficit to two (22-20) with 4:14 left on a pull-up jumper before the Bearcats went on a 11-3 run to close the half and give Northwest a 33-23 halftime advantage.
Megan Jackson opened the scoring for Southern in the second half with a layup and-one with 7:23 remaining in the third quarter. Following a Bearcat three the Lions went on an 8-3 run to trim the lead to 13 (34-47) with 4:33 remaining after a Stokes layup. Anna Hall got Southern to within 10 (51-41) with a pair of free throws with 1:05 left.
Following a Kaitlin Hunnicutt pull-up jumper with 7:40 remaining in regulation, Southern cut the lead to eight (58-46), but it was as close as the Lions got in the quarter.
For the game Southern shot 34.6 percent from the field and 81.8 from the free throw line. The Lions won the rebounding battle 38-34, had more bench points 19-17, and had 30 points in the paint compared to the Bearcats’ 20.
Up next for the women is Pittsburg State next Saturday at home. Tip-off from Leggett & Platt Athletic Center is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
