By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
Most appropriately, Jasmine Lovejoy scored on a rebound basket with just over a minute remaining to give Missouri Southern the lead, and the Lions held on for a 60-57 victory over Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday afternoon in the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
The Lions (10-6, 4-5 MIAA) trailed most of the first half but led 30-28 at the intermission, and a close second half saw the biggest lead of only four points. The eighth tie of the half came when Lovejoy hit a free throw to make it 55-55 with 1:57 left.
Michelle Hedgecock’s defensive rebound gave the Lions the chance to take the lead, and the Lions took the ball inside and attacked the backboard.
Lovejoy drove for a layup but missed. Guard Myriah Hicks claimed the offensive rebound but missed her shot, LaTice Jones rebounded but also missed her shot before Lovejoy rebounded and scored on the Lions’ fourth shot of the possession.
“No doubt that was the play of the game,” Lions head coach Maryann Mitts said. “For us to continue to battle for second and third efforts ... we’re trying to get that first effort out of them every possession. But that possession offered not only a first effort but the second and third effort that will always work out in your favor. It was pivotal.”
Another defensive rebound by Hedgecock gave the Lions possession with 47 seconds remaining. As the shot clock wound down, Lovejoy drove from the left wing, made a spin move near the goal and scored for a 59-55 lead with 21 seconds to play.
Jessica Zaruba scored on a layup to cut the deficit to two, and the Mavericks fouled Lovejoy. Just as she had done on her previous six trips to the foul line, Lovejoy made 1-of-2 attempts for a 60-57 lead with 11 seconds left.
The Mavericks (9-7, 4-5) moved the ball from the right side of the floor around the perimeter to Heather Pohl in the left corner. Pohl nailed five of her first eight shots from 3-point range, but her game-tying attempt glanced off the side of the backboard.
Lovejoy, 5-foot-8 junior, hit 7-of-12 field goals and 7-of-14 free throws for 21 points to lead four Lions in double figures.
Guard Jolea Apon made three of the Lions’ four treys and finished with 11 points, and Hedgecock and Jones contributed 10 points apiece.
Hedgecock, 5-10 sophomore, snared a career-high 14 rebounds as the Lions dominated the rebounding by a 51-30 margin. Averaging 5.9 rebounds for the season, Hedgecock had seven in each half.
“I thought we would have outrebounded them a little bit but not as much as we did just because they have No. 42 (6-4 Ashley Nelson), who is way taller than us,” said Hedgecock, who had six of the Lions’ 19 offensive rebounds. “We boxed her out as much as we could.
“I was just crashing the boards. It was all I could do, going to the boards, going after the ball.”
“Give Michelle Hedgecock a lot of credit,” Mitts said. “They played the chess game, and they made the move of playing off of her. We had to make a chess move back, and the move was for her to hit that 15-foot shot and to get on the boards. I thought she adjusted to the game strategy very well.
“Four of the last five games, we’ve done a great job on the boards. The offensive boards are tremendous. I wish we were getting more putbacks off those offensive rebounds, more production.”
“We gave up way too many offensive rebounds,” UNO head coach Patty Shearer said. “I thought we battled hard and I thought we competed, but we didn’t step to the free-throw line, put free throws away at clutch periods of time. And I thought we put them on the free-throw line without playing good defense. We didn’t finish the game with the focus that we started the game with. But I was very proud of effort.”
Pohl, 6-0 sophomore forward, doubled her season average with 18 points to pace UNO, and 5-9 senior guard Alyssa Green had 16 points and nine rebounds.
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