Jan. 24, 2009
JOPLIN, Mo. – Senior Eli Medina’s jumper with three seconds left was blocked by Missouri Southern’s Jolea Apon, as the Truman women’s basketball team led for much of the game but couldn’t hold on in a 56-54 road loss on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs (4-14, 1-10 MIAA) led by as many as 15 just ten minutes in and carried a 34-23 lead into the intermission. Truman shot a shade above 50% in the opening frame and held a 21-7 edge on the boards, including a 7-0 advantage on the offensive glass.
After Missouri Southern (14-4, 8-3 MIAA) closed the Truman lead to six just four minutes into the second half, the Bulldogs ran off a quick 6-2 spurt to push the lead back to double-figures with 14:54 to play.
From there, however, the Bulldogs went cold from the field, going six minutes without scoring to allow the host Lions to rattle off 14 straight and take a 46-42 lead with just under nine minutes remaining. Freshman Breanna Daniels nailed the first of her two second-half three pointers to cut the deficit to one before hitting another long-ball moments later to tie the score at 50.
After a Lindsey Davis lay-up gave Southern the lead once again, senior Georgia Mueller hit a lay-up of her own to knot the score at 52. Truman then slumped for a nearly four minute stretch before Mueller closed the gap to just two at 56-54 on a put-back with 43 seconds to play.
A solid defensive stand gave Truman a chance for a tie or the win, but Medina’s last-second effort from inside the arc was tipped by Apon to hand the Bulldogs its sixth loss by six or fewer points in MIAA play.
Mueller led all players with 17 points and put together a balanced effort with 11 rebounds and five assists. Her third rebound early in the first half pushed her past the 800 mark for her career and moved her just 14 rebounds shy of cracking the MIAA’s top-10 list. She also becomes just the second player in Truman history to post at least 1,700 points and 800 rebounds for her career (1,727 points, 809 rebounds).
Sophomore Malorie Kiecker also finished in double-figures with 13 points, while Daniels scored all ten of her points in the second half on perfect shooting. For the game, Truman out-rebounded MSSU 38-28 and out-shot the Lions by six percent, but the turnover bug plagued Truman again, as the Bulldogs committed 22 turnovers to just 12 by the host Lions.
Truman returns to Kirksville for a Wednesday night showdown with Pittsburg State. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.