Missouri Southern’s women’s basketball team hit the road Nov. 8, travelling down I-44 to take on the Drury Lady Panthers in Springfield.

The next contest will be the home opener against Southwestern Okla. on Saturday, Nov. 16.

The Lions ran into trouble right from the start.

“In our opener at Drury, we really did not start the game well and dug ourselves an early hole,” said Interim Head Coach Ronda Hubbard. “Unfortunately, we didn’t handle their pressure very well, turning it over 21 times. It’s going to be tough to win a game when you have that many turnovers.”

At half time, the Lions trailed by 13. Things spiraled downward at the beginning of the second half with the Lady Panthers going on an early 12-0 run to take a 48-25 lead. The Lady Panthers wouldn’t look back, going on to win 75-54.

Despite losing, Hubbard took some good out of the performance.

“I thought we did some positive things offensively, but just did not finish,” she said. “We missed a ton of open shots that were really good looks within our offensive scheme. We just didn’t make them.”

After a long break, the Lions will resume play on Saturday, Nov. 16, against the Southwest Oklahoma Lady Bulldogs.

The Lady Bulldogs are projected to finish second in their conference, so it could be a tough matchup for the Lions.

“My hopes this weekend vs. SWOSU are that we will play a lot harder as a team and that our seniors will step up and lead,” said Hubbard. “We have key players that did not perform well in the opener and we need those individuals to step up and carry the load.”

Moving forward, Hubbard hopes to get veteran leadership from her squad.

Leaders that Hubbard needs her leaders to take control on the court in place of players that are not available for the Lions.

The loss of two key returners due to injury has thrown plenty of adversity at the Lions early on in the season.

“The absence of two seniors, returning starters Tee Singleton [point guard, expected back after Thanksgiving] and Jolee Sharp [shooter, who is out for the season] has left some big holes for us to fill,” said Hubbard. “Many players are having to step into much bigger roles than expected this early in the season. Our early success is going to depend on our new players learning quickly how hard they have to play at this level, the system of play and the importance of every possession.”