Missouri Southern State University’s women’s basketball team put together a strong performance in the paint Tuesday en route to an 82-73 win over No. 11 Pittsburg State University night at Robert Ellis Young Gymnasium.
Southern’s Ashlynn Alloway poured in 30 points, including a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line, and Grace Frazier netted 19 points, while dishing out seven assists and grabbing five rebounds.
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“We felt we had an advantage inside,” MSSU head coach Ronnie Ressel said, “especially with Ashlyn around the rim. She has proven in her two years at Lincoln and so far this year (at MSSU) that she is a tough person to guard in the paint because she moves so athletically and can finish. You can’t foul her because she is a really good free-throw shooter, shooting over 80% on the year. That’s one thing we focus on — making sure she gets touches.”
Ressel said when they can get the ball to Alloway that they have scored on 85 to 90% of those possessions so far this season.
He talked about his strategy going into the game against the nationally ranked Gorillas.
“Our big keys were making sure we rebounded the ball, took care of the ball and shot more free throws than them,” Ressel said. “We did two out of those three, and the turnovers were right there. We said before if we could do two out of those three, it would give us a very good chance to win the ball game — and they did exactly what we asked them to do.”
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The Lions outscored the Gorillas 42-28 in the paint and outrebounded PSU 38-34. They shot 93% from the free-throw line, converting 26 of 28 attempts.
In a close game early, PSU went on a 6-0 run to take a 17-11 lead in the first quarter before Frazier pared the lead to 4 points with a short jumper to close out scoring in the opening quarter.
The Lions came out hot, both on offense and defense, to start the second period and earned a 20-17 lead after a 7-0 run that was capped off by a Nariah Clay short jumper in the paint at the 6:41 mark.
MSSU never trailed after earning that lead and held the Gorillas to just 20% shooting in the second quarter, while scorching the nets with 61.5% shooting in the second frame.
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Southern gained its largest lead of the game to that point after a Clay and-one gave the Lions a 33-25 lead with 36 seconds left in the half.
A pair of Harper Schreiner free throws pulled PSU within six at 33-27 going into the break.
Pitt State closed the gap to 3 at 39-36 off a Clara Swearingen transition bucket at the 6:05 mark of the third quarter, but MSSU answered with a Frazier score and a strong drive to the rim by Makenna Yokley, who muscled her way past three Gorilla defenders to give the Lions a 43-36 lead.
PSU managed to tie the game at 43-43 at the 3:51 mark, but MSSU soon regained the lead for good.
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Southern closed out the third quarter with a Hattie Pyle jumper that gave the Lions a 52-47 lead going into the final frame.
The fourth quarter proved to be the most productive for both teams as the Lions poured in 30 points to counter PSU’s 26-point effort.
Another Alloway and-one off of numerous feeds from Frazier gave Southern a 57-50 lead with 8:41 left in the game.
Alloway and Frazier both talked about their connection on the court.
“It’s easy because we both play really hard, along with our three others,” Frazier said. “When you practice that way, you play the same way, and we both have a lot of confidence in each other, so it works out for us.
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“We work on it every single day to get the results that we got today on the court,” Alloway said. “I know if I don’t have the shot, Grace has the shot, and if Grace doesn’t have it, she knows that I do. At the end of the day, one of us will be open off the ball screen.”
The Gorillas (11-3, 4-1) put together 7-0 run to pull within a point a 61-60, but MSSU answered with its own 8-0 run that gave the Lions their largest lead of the game at 69-60 with 2:47 left.
Pitt State battled back to within 5 points at 78-73 off a Schreiner bucket, but that is as close as the Gorillas could get as the Lions closed out the game with four free throws for the 82-73 win.
In addition to Alloway’s 30 points and Frazier’s 19, Clay netted 11 an Yokley chipped in with 9.
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Marin Adams and Brown both logged 19 points for the Gorillas, while Schreiner finished with 13.
Southern (10-4, 4-1) returns to action at 1:30 p.m. Saturday when it hosts Newman at Robert Ellis Young Gymnasium.
