Maple big in win over Lions

Sophomore Lindsey Maple dropped a career-high 27 points on Missouri Southern to give the Central Missouri State Jennies big road win on Wednesday night in Joplin. The victory put CMSU two games ahead of the pack for third place in the MIAA.

The Jennies stayed right on the Lions heals in the first period until an 11-4 run gave them a 25-18 advantage. Missouri Southern battled back though as Marina Caran hit a lay-up with two seconds left to tie the score at 31 going to the break. The Jennies shot 56 percent in the half compared to 41.4 percent for the Lions but CMSU had 11 turnovers in the period. Maple led all scorers with 11 points while Dana-Mae Robbs put up 10 in the half for MSSU.

The Lions would never see a lead though in the second stanza. CMSU took the lead and never relinquished it thanks to a big period from Maple (16 points). The Jens stretched their lead to as many as 14 with 3:26 remaining before the Lions made their run. They trimmed it to six but it was too late with only 1:04 left on the clock and a long CMSU possession ahead. The Jens finished the game shooting 52.1 percent from the field while holding MSSU to 38.7 percent. Central Missouri also continued a trend of hitting more free throws (17) than its opponent attempts (11).

Kara Rewerts was the only other player in double-figures for CMSU with 10 points while Maple led the team in rebounding as well, with six.

The Lions were led by Robbs with 15 while Caran tallied 14. Meghan Welch also added 11 for MSSU.