Matt Barker, Sports Information Director

HENDERSON, Tenn. - The No. 12 Freed-Hardeman Lady Lion basketball team will look to avenge their loss earlier in the season as they travel to Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) University tonight for a 5:30 PM matchup in St. Louis, Mo.

SETTING THE STAGE

FHU (13-5, 9-3 AMC) enters tonight's matchup coming off a convincing 87-53 victory over Missouri Baptist University (6-9, 5-7 AMC) on Saturday. The Lady Lions got things started early from behind the arc as the Spartans had trouble stopping the duo of Kenley Crowell and Brandee Busenlehner. Crowell led the way for the Lady Lions with 21 points on an 8-for-13 shooting night, including 3-for-6 from behind the arc.

Busenlehner also found her shot from behind the arc as she shot an impressive 5-for-7 from three-point range to finish with 19 points. Taleeah Cross continued her consistent play as she chipped in 16 points and dished out six assists in the matchup. Kim Mallory led the Lady Lions on the glass as she finished with nine points and seven rebounds.

FHU had one of its best shooting performances of the season as they shot an impressive 49.3 percent from the field and 53.3 percent from three-point range compared to Missouri Baptist who shot just 37.2 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from behind the arc. The Lady Lions made life difficult for the Spartans as they crashed the boards the entire game and out-rebounded MBU 33-20 in the matchup. FHU also pressured the Spartans on the defensive end as they forced an impressive 19 turnovers and had nine steals, led by Cross with three steals.

SCOUTING THE HORNETS

Harris-Stowe State University (9-9, 7-5 AMC) enters tonight's matchup coming off a 70-47 loss to Lyon (Ark.) College (15-2, 11-1 AMC) on Saturday to suffer their ninth loss of the season.

The Hornets are led by freshman Cierra Stanciel, who averages 12.06 points per game and has shot 35.8 percent from the field so far this season. Stanciel also leads the team in steals as she averages 2.28 steals per game and has compiled 41 steals so far this season, a feat good enough to rank her 17th in the NAIA for total steals. Senior forward Monae Riley leads the team in rebounding and blocks as she averages 6.50 rebounds and 0.44 blocks per game.

As a team, the Hornets average 64.0 points per game while holding their opponents to 61.6 points per game. HSSU has shot 36.8 percent from the field as a team and 25.1 percent from behind the arc while averaging 40.9 rebounds per game, led by Riley.

Saturday marks the tenth meeting between FHU and Harris Stowe. FHU leads the all-time series 8-1.

LAST TIME THEY MET

FHU hosted Harris Stowe earlier this season on November 19 and were defeated by the Hornets 53-51 in the tight matchup to experience their first conference loss of the season. The Lady Lions shot just 27 percent in the contest compared to Harris Stowe who shot 34 percent from the field and 41 percent from three-point range. Both teams struggled to maintain offensive possession as FHU turned the ball over 19 times while Harris Stowe committed 21 turnovers to keep the game tight the entire way.

The Lady Lions trailed for a majority of the first half, but were able to make a late push to tie things up at 19 apiece off a field goal by freshman Sandrea Sylman with four minutes remaining. However, the Lady Lions would fail to gain the lead as the Hornets out-shot FHU 8-5 to close out the half with a 27-24 lead. The Lady Lions shot just 29 percent in the first half on 9 for 31 shooting while Harris Stowe shot 35 percent.

The Lady Lions continued to struggle with their shooting from the field in the second half as they shot just 27 percent; however, they able to make up for their cold shooting by forcing turnovers on the Hornets and cashing them in on the other end of the floor. FHU was able to pick up their defensive pressure to enter the second half of play and would close out the third quarter on a 6-0 run to go up 42-39 and take their first lead of the game since leading 5-4 in the first quarter.

The Lady Lions were able to keep a slight lead for a majority of the fourth quarter until the 1:00 mark when Harris Stowe's Angela Randall connected on a three-pointer to put the Hornets up 52-51 with .41 seconds remaining in the game. FHU would close out the game with a turnover and would be forced to foul. Randall would connect on 1 of 2 from the line to put the Hornets up 53-51, which would be all they needed to hand FHU their second loss of the season and first in conference play.

The Lady Lions will look to have a better result tonight as they face Harris Stowe for a second time this season in a 5:30 PM matchup in St. Louis, Mo.

COVERAGE

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