By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
Pittsburg State, sparked by Brianna Buchanan’s season-high 25 points, displayed its best shooting since the season opener and decked Missouri Southern 77-68 Saturday night at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
The Gorillas (9-3, 5-1 MIAA) climbed into a tie for the conference lead as No. 2 Washburn and No. 9 Emporia State both lost at home to Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist, respectively.
The Gorillas shot 53 percent from the floor and 62 percent from 3-point range to beat the Lions on the road for the second straight season. The Gorillas’ 53.9 percent shooting against Paul Quinn (Texas) in the first game of the season was the only other time they hit more than half of their shots.
In addition, the Gorillas had their most accurate shooting night from beyond the arc, hitting 8-of-13 attempts. Buchanan, a senior guard, nailed all four of her 3-point attempts, and Bailey Waugh, a sophomore who prepped at Labette County High School, was 4-of-7.
“I think a lot of us who haven’t been shooting good the last couple of games went to the gym (Tuesday), and it paid off tonight,” said Buchanan, who was 8-of-11 overall from the floor and 5-of-8 at the foul line.
“And I think the rivalry had a little bit to do with it. I didn’t know about it until I got to Pitt. A couple of days before the game last year, they said that Pittsburg and Joplin have this big rivalry. So I get a little bit more excited for this game than I do the other games.”
PSU, shooting 33 percent for the season from long range and making only four treys in their previous two games, nailed 5-of-7 attempts in the first half. Buchanan and Waugh connected on two 3s apiece in a three-minute stretch late in the first half as the Gorillas expanded a 24-22 lead to 36-26 with 1:45 left in the half.
“There was a stretch in the first half when they hit four back to back to back to back,” Lions head coach Maryann Mitts said. “Credit their kids. They stepped up and did something that maybe they’re not normally that good at. We tried to take away the dribble-drive penetration, and I really believe that if they miss two out of those four 3s, it’s a different ball game.”
“We’ve really struggled the last couple of games from the 3-point line,” Gorillas head coach Lane Lord said. “I knew they’d be sagging in on us. We were really outstanding with Bailey Waugh and Brianna coming through for us. Then we were able to get Nicole (McCombs) some work inside. It was a great team effort against a very good Southern team.”
McCombs, a transfer from Division I Drexel, was 6-of-7 from the floor and scored 15 for the Gorillas. Waugh and guard DePrice Taylor both scored 12.
India Wood, senior guard, scored 13 points to lead the Lions (9-3, 3-2), and freshman forward Michelle Hedgecock scored 11 on 5-of-7 shooting.
The Gorillas prevailed despite the game being played at a slower tempo that the Lions prefer.
“We’ve really been working on our half-court set, but we want to play fast,” Lord said. “They did a nice job handling our press. We didn’t get very many deflections. We didn’t get very many steals, and that’s what usually fuels our offense. But tonight we did it a different way, executed in the halfcourt and made a few shots.”
“We took away their transition game,” Mitts said. “What it came down to is the little things. If you look at the free throws and the number of layups we missed, that was the difference in the basketball game.”
The Lions shot 46 percent from the field – just above their season average – but were just 12-of-20 at the foul line compared to 19-of-28 for PSU.
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