Carley Turnbull scored 27 points and Madi Stokes pulled down 16 rebounds as the Missouri Southern women’s basketball team rode a strong fourth quarter and defeated Northeastern State 70-64 on Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center tonight.
Southern (2-3, 2-3 MIAA) was led by Turnbull’s career night as a Lion as she went 12-of-23 from the field, adding four assists and two steals to go with the 27 points. Stokes went 5-of-8 from the field and scored 10 points with 16 rebounds, including five on the offensive boards. Kaitlin Hunnicutt scored ten points off the bench, while Biance Stocks dished out six assists.
Northeastern State (2-1, 2-1 MIAA) was led by Shae Sanchez with 18 points.
The two teams were tied at four early in the first, before the Lions went on a 10-4 run and led 12-8 after a jumper from Turnbull with 3:11 to go in the quarter. Another bucket from Turnbull and a layup from Zoe Cambpell off a pass from Biance Stocks pushed the Southern lead to 16-11 with two minutes to go and the Lions took a 17-13 lead after one.
The RiverHawks tied the score at 23 on a three with 5:38 to go in the quarter but a three from Kaitlin Hunnicutt with 4:23 on the clock made the score 28-24, Lions. A jumper from Turnbull off another Stocks assist with 2:20 to go pushed the Southern lead to eight (34-26), but NSU closed the half on a 9-1 run to tie the score at 35 going into the locker room.
Turnbull finished the half with 16 points, while the Lions shot 44 percent from the field as a team.
The third quarter saw the teams fight back-and-forth with the largest lead being five for NSU with 1:26 left. The Lions, however, scored four-straight to end the period trailing 52-51.
A three from Turnbull, block from Stokes, as well as back-to-back fast-break buckets from the Lions, with a steal for Turnbull in the mix, and the Lions turn a 54-53 deficit into a 60-54 lead and force a NSU timeout with seven minutes to go. A jumper from Stokes off another Stocks’ assist (her sixth) pushed the Lions’ lead to eight (64-56).
Southern led by eight (70-62) with a minute to go and the Lions finished off the 70-64 win.
The Lions shot 48 percent from the field and 44 percent from long-range, while making 73 percent of their free throws. Southern won the rebound battle with a 40-35 advantage and held a 36-30 advantage in the paint.
