Last week, the Missouri Southern Women’s Basketball team saw its five-game winning streak come to an end with back-to-back losses against SBU and #12 Central Missouri.

The team will look for redemption on the home court Saturday when they rematch Central Missouri.

Both of the Lions’ losses occurred on the road, where their record on the season is just 4-5. At home, their record is still unblemished at 10-0.

Against SBU, the Lions lost 83-78. Despite double-digit scoring efforts from four different Lions, they couldn’t find stops on the defensive end, allowing SBU to shoot 52 percent from the field.

The Central Missouri game saw the Lions have similar struggles on the

defensive end, and they fell by a score of 70-61.

“I believe our individual efforts on defense and blocking out throughout

the game contributed to our loss vs. UCM,” said Head Coach Ronda

Hubbard. “As we fought hard, we had some breakdowns and mental mistakes in the closing minutes that put the game out of reach.”

Looking ahead to the rematch, Hubbard believes the team has the ability to pull off the upset at home.

“I’m very confident our team understands the game plan going into this

next game and are sold out to execute it,” she said. “I just feel better

individual efforts on the defensive end, not allowing second chance points, and executing offensively will be key.”

One player the Lions will have to pay extra attention to is Central

Missouri forward Keuna Flax, who scored 27.

She has been terrorizing opposing teams all season, averaging nearly 21 points per game.

Being on their home floor will play in the Lions’ favor, however.

Hubbard said, “We are undefeated at home for a reason. Our players take pride in defending their home court and play off of the enthusiasm of our fans. It’s my sincere hope that the students will come out and be loud and proud for this doubleheader, as it is an extremely important

game for both us and the men’s program.”

Southern gets back underway against Central on Saturday.