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JOPLIN, Mo. – The Northeastern State women's basketball team lost a 50-34 decision to Missouri Southern State Saturday afternoon inside Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
 
The RiverHawks fell to 8-6 overall and 4-3 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, while the Lions improved to 9-4 overall and 3-3 in the league.
 
Freshman guard Alexis Hill led NSU with seven points. Sharese Jones for MSSU was the only player in double figures for either team. She finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
 
NSU shot 21.7 percent (10-for-46) from the field, 23.5 percent (4-for-17) from 3-point territory and 58.8 percent (10-for-17) at the free-throw line. Missouri Southern State shot 43.9 percent (18-for-41) overall, 38.1 percent (8-for-21) from deep and 85.7 percent (6-for-7) at the charity stripe.
 
The Lions never trailed in the game and led by as many as 21 in the contest. They took a 28-9 lead into halftime and NSU was only able to pull within 11 points in the second half.
 
The RiverHawks were held to their lowest scoring output of the NCAA era (since 1996-97). The contest also marked just the fifth time in the Randy Gipson era (since 1999-00) that NSU was held to fewer than 40 points.
 
Northeastern State will head to Kearney, Nebraska, for a 5:30 p.m. contest Jan. 15 against Nebraska-Kearney.

NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH RANDY GIPSON
Initial statement...
"I think Missouri Southern came out playing hard, and we didn't play with the intensity that we needed to play with on offense. Missing shots like we did is a byproduct of our lack of aggressiveness on offense. They played hard on defense. I think we competed throughout and guarded well for the most part. Obviously, our problems were on the offensive end."
 
On getting back in the game in the second half...
"Our team didn't give in. We had several freshmen out there. Miranda Griffin was able to get in there and she played well for us. She made a basket and had a couple rebounds for us. You have to be encouraged by the positives like that. I thought Alexis Hill played hard throughout and did some things better than she had been doing. We didn't stop competing. I think our heads are in the right spot as far as that is concerned. It's just one of those deals that we won one out of two on the road this week, and now we've got to move on and get ready for the next one."
 
On moving forward to next week...
"With as many young people as we have, we just have to focus on playing the game. We just need to keep getting repetitions and keep working to have the competitive mindset that is necessary to play night in and night out in this league. I think our kids can do that."
 
-GoRiverHawksGo.com-