Southern Women whip PSU

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Junior G Marina Caran poured in a career-high 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting and Missouri Southern tied a season-high with 12 three-point field goals in a rout of Pittsburg State, 87-44, Wednesday night (Feb. 15) at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center in the season`s second edition of the Del Rio Bordertown Battle. The win gives the Lions the season sweep of the Gorillas for the first time since the 1993-94 campaign. Southern was also victorious 67-50 on Jan. 11 in Pittsburg, Kan. The Lions (15-10, 7-7 MIAA) move into fifth place in the MIAA with two games left due to Northwest Missouri State losing at Missouri Western. The Gorillas (10-14, 3-10 MIAA) are currently in the seventh spot in the conference. Southern never trailed and got going early by scoring the first seven points of the contest and built the lead to 16-4 on a three-pointer by freshman G/F Meghan Welch with 13:30 remaining in the first half. The Lions connected on four treys during that stretch, two by Welch and made seven of nine from three-point distance overall in the opening half of play. Missouri Southern led by as many as 21 in the first half before settling for a 43-26 advantage at halftime. The Lions picked up right where they left off by outscoring the Gorillas 23-6 during the opening 7:35 of the second half to lead 65-32 with 12:25 remaining. Caran capped the run with a three and scored 11 points during the burst to fuel the Southern surge. MSSU built the lead to as high as 44 points in the second half before the Gorillas` junior C Maggie Apt hit a free throw with 49 seconds left to create the final margin of victory. Caran wasn`t the only Lion to enjoy a career night, as freshman G/F Nacy Thornsberry scored a career-high 14 points on a career-best 4-of-6 shooting from the field. Thornsberry also hit 2-of-4 from three-point distance and also grabbed four rebounds. Welch scored 18 for Southern, while sophomore G/F Robin Kantin scored 11. Senior G Nicole Greninger also reached double-figures with 10 points to go along with a career-high eight rebounds. Junior G Liz Burks dished out a team-high seven assists for the Lions. Sophomore C Tracy Patry was the lone Gorilla in double-figures with 16 points.