February 27, 2008

Lions End PSU Postseason Hopes, 70-53

    PITTSBURG -- India Wood led four Missouri Southern State University players in double figures with 14 points as the Lions knocked off Pittsburg State University, 70-53, Wednesday (Feb. 26) at John Lance Arena.
    The Gorillas (10-16, 4-13 MIAA) saw their postseason hopes come to an end with the loss to the Lions (18-8, 9-8 MIAA), coupled with Missouri Western State University’s 69-66 upset win over Northwest Missouri State University Wednesday.
    Southern outscored Pitt State, 20-6, over the final 12:11 of the first half to turn a 15-14 deficit into a 34-21 halftime advantage.
   The Lions ballooned their lead to as many as 18 points in the second half, but the Gorillas trimmed the margin to six points, at 43-37, with 14:55 remaining, but Southern countered with an 8-2 run five minutes later to extend the margin back to double digits and the Lions never looked back.
    Fatai Hala’Api’Api and Robin Kantin added 11 apiece to go along with Wood’s team-leading 14 points, and Tynesha Peirce finished with 10 as Southern shot 46.2 percent from the field in the second half and converted 11 of 12 free throws in the final 20 minutes of play to take control of the game.
    Laura Glenn finished with a team-leading 13 points for the Gorillas, while Linda Igbinigie flirted with a triple-double by contributing nine points, nine rebounds and a PSU single-game record nine blocked shots.