Box Score | Season Stats

JOPLIN, Mo. -- The No. 3 ranked Lady Blues held Missouri Southern to one field goal in the final 5:07 of the game but Washburn was nearly as cold hitting two in the same stretch of time as a late-game rally fell short as the Lady Blues fell 59-58. Washburn (13-2, 6-2 MIAA) will be back home on Wednesday as they will face Pittsburg State in Lee Arena at 5:30 p.m.

Down the stretch, neither team scored in the final 3:09 of the game while Washburn was holding a slim 57-56 lead. Missouri Southern tied the score and eventually took the lead at 58-57 on a pair of free throws by Nichole Helfrich. Washburn's Janice Bright missed a jumper and Myosha Barnes was fould with 16 seconds remaining. She hit one free throw pushing the Lions to a 59-57 lead. Bright's 3-pointer with three seconds remaining was off the mark, but Karla Tailele picked up the rebound and was fouled with no time remaining. She connected on the first free throw, but the second rimmed out and Missouri Southern picking up the 59-58 win.

Washburn trailed by as many as 13 in the first half, their largest defict all season, but reduced the difference to five at 32-27 going into the locker room. Washburn came out of the gates cold in the opening frame not hitting their first field goal of the night until the 14:03 mark when Hope Gregory hit a lay up off an offensive rebound snapping a beginning stretch of 0 of 8 to start the game finishing 6 of 24 from the field in the first half. They were 13 of 18 from the free throw line.

Washburn did raise their shooting percentage in the second half to 39 percent, but finished 15 of 47 for the game compared to the Lions' 18 of 54.

The Lady Blues committed 18 turnovers leading to 16 Missouri Southern points while the Lions coughed up 10 leading to 13 Washburn points. Washburn held a 43 to 30 advantage on the glass.

Bright led the Lady Blues with 20 points and Stanecia Graham scored 10. India Woods led four Lions in double figures with 21 points.

Notes:
• With the loss, the Lady Blues lead the all-time series 38 to 25.
• Washburn had their three-game winning streak in Joplin snapped.
• Washburn is 708-329 (.682 in 1,037 games) in its 40th season of intercollegiate action.
• Saturday's game was Ron McHenry's 150th MIAA game he has coached. He is 118-32 (.792) overall.
• Washburn is 8-6 on Jan. 10 in the program's history.
• Washburn has kept opponents under 100 in 299 consecutive games.
• The 31 free throw attempts against Missouri Southern was a season-high for the Lady Blues.
• The five blocked shots against Missouri Southern was a season-high.
• The 58 points scored tied a season-low for the Lady Blues (12/13/08 vs Truman)
• Washburn's Erica Brown scored a six points on 6 of 10 free throw attempts - the 10 free throw attempts were the most for a Lady Blues' player this season.
• Hope Gregory became the first Lady Blue to foul out of a game this season.