A strong team effort led the Missouri Southern women’s basketball team to a 68-59 victory over nationally ranked Washburn University this afternoon, raising the Lions current win streak to seven.

The Lions jumped out to an early lead over the Ichabod’s in the first half, largely due to tight defense and seemingly non-stop hustle.

Senior guard Samantha Soyez performed well for the Lions, fighting for loose balls and making several difficult passes to find wide-open teammates for easy buckets.

Junior guard Alexis Fitzpatrick was on pace to have her best performance of the year, scoring ten points and adding a couple of assists before going down with an apparent knee injury after twelve minutes. She would return in the second half, however.

The Lions ended the first half up 33-28.

In the second half, the Ichabod’s came out firing, going on an 8-0 run to take a temporary lead over the Lions. The game went back and forth for a little while, staying relatively close, before the Lions jumped out to leads by as much as 13.

Senior forward Shonte Clay played a key part in putting the Lions up. Senior Forward Dominique Mosley was in foul trouble and Clay played an extended amount of time because of it. Clay took advantage of the opportunity, putting up 13 points in the second half.

The Ichabod’s had one more run in them, cutting the 13 point deficit to as little as three, but pesky defense by Fitzpatrick resulted in two late baskets by junior guard Nicole Hartzog, sealing the deal.

Fitzpatrick and Clay led the Lions in scoring on the afternoon, adding 16 and 19, respectively. Fitzpatrick also recorded six steals on the afternoon.