So far in the 2013-14 season, the Missouri Southern women’s basketball team has experienced some very tough losses by small margins. Perhaps none were as devastating as this past Saturday’s.

In their biggest rivalry game of the season, the Lions suffered a three-point loss to the Pittsburg State Gorillas.

Despite winning the rebounding battle 44-28 and breaking even in nearly every category, the Lions couldn’t keep junior guard Lizzy Jeronimus off of the free throw line.

Head Coach Ronda Hubbard said, “Turnovers and untimely errors in the close of the game (we didn’t block out on two free throws, missed our own free throws and missed a layup) made the difference in the Pitt State game, along with the amount of times Jeronimus went to the foul line.”

The loss marked the fifth time this season the Lions lost by a margin of less than 10. Their only two losses by more than 10 were against nationally ranked Emporia State and a loss at SBU they avenged just a week later.

“We have had a motto all year, ‘Respect all, fear none.’ It is for this reason, that we maturely understand the effort it takes to win games in this league and we know that when we give our best effort, it will always be good enough,” said Hubbard.

Looking forward, the Lions will face Lindenwood and Lincoln in the upcoming week. The Lions already defeated both teams earlier in the season.

In the first meeting with Lindenwood, the Lions won by an 11-point margin. Senior forward Shonte Clay scored 19 points on 9 of 13, shooting in the win.

Southern won by 24 the first time they played Lincoln, their third largest margin of victory all season.

With only two games remaining before tournament time, Hubbard looks to fine-tune a few elements of the Lion’s attack.

“Our defense has got to tighten up down the stretch and our rebounding has to be solid,” said Hubbard. “Closing games has been an area of concern, so we must do a better job with decision-making and execution.”