Box Score

Bolivar, Mo. – The Southwest Baptist University women's basketball team fell to Missouri Southern on Thursday evening 79-61. With the loss, SBU drops to 7-11 (3-8 MIAA) on the season.

The Bearcats opened the game up against the Lions on a 5-0 run, and a Mackenzie Skupa layup gave SBU a 9-6 lead with 15:28 left in the half. Missouri Southern started to slowly build their lead, taking a 19-13 advantage, and pushed the lead to nine at 24-15 with 10:04. The Bearcats continued to hang tight, and a Leann Terrill jumper with 5:56 in the half cut the lead down to six at 27-21. However, MSSU extended the lead to 11 (36-25) with 3:11 left in the half before SBU ended the half on a 6-0 run to go into the break trailing 36-31.

In the second half Missouri Southern slowly started to build their lead back up, taking a 44-35 lead with 16:18 left. After going down 12 (49-37), the Bearcats started to battle back, using a 10-2 run to cut the deficit down to four (51-47) with 11:13 to go. However, SBU was unable to get take over a lead as MSSU started to build their lead back up as the Bearcats would eventually fall 79-61.

Dilonna Johnson had a career high 21 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Mackenzie Skupa had a solid game off of the bench with 13 points and 7 rebounds, while Leann Terrill added 11 points in the loss. As a team SBU shot 36.8% from the field, 14.3% from beyond the arc, and 81.0% from the free throw line.

The Bearcats will quickly return to action when they host #9 Pittsburg State on Saturday, January 31. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. from the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar.