It's the MOST wonderful time of the year!!

Today's post is written by Assistant Coach Marcus Moeller:

Thanksgiving and Christmas have come and gone. Final exams...same story. The Christmas song says it best, "It's the most wonderful time of they year". However, for college basketball players and coaches, the reason for this claim maybe a little bit different than what the song was talking about.

At Missouri Southern, the Spring semester begins January 17th. Our players arrived back on campus on Monday (December 27th). Between the day they arrived and the first day of the Spring semester there are 23 days that they get to play ball and not worry about their homework, tests, or quizzes. Although the campus is desolate (the men's and women's basketball teams are the only students back in the dorms), there is a certain bonding and camaraderie that takes place over this time. Our team will play 6 games during the next 23 days. At the conclusion of those 23 days we will have completed the entire first round of conference play (the MIAA plays a double round robin, each team playing every other team both at home and on the road).

This journey starts on Sunday Jan. 2nd at 2:00pm with a home contest against Pittsburg State. Game 1 of the Sonic Trophy Series game will be a very special one. That day is "Alumni Night" for our basketball program. We are very excited to have some of our alumni returning with their family and friends! Another exciting event taking place that day is the official announcement and presentation of the establishment of the Brenda Pitts-Jennings Endowment Scholarship. In addition, Brenda's name will forever be the name of our lockerroom.

We are so very grateful to all of our loyal fans and can't wait to see you out at the game on Sunday. With all of the "extra" events surrounding the game, don't forget that we are in hot pursuit of the top spot in our conference and riding a 4 game winning streak!! We look forward to seeing you at the Leggett and Platt Athletic Center on Sunday!

See what I mean, now? It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

Until next time...It's a GREAT day to be a LION!!

Marcus Moeller
Assistant Coach

Merry Christmas!

Today's post is written by Assistant Coach Marcus Moeller:

What a ride we have been on these last 3 weeks. I cannot describe the energy and excitement that has been circulating around our program. Lindsey, in last week's blog post, did a GREAT job of giving you an overall picture of how our season has gone, so I will just pick up where she left off. At the time Lindsey wrote, we had just beat Lincoln University to raise our record to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the MIAA.

This week was a LONG week of preparation. There are very few times during the conference season that we get to have more than 2 practices before we play our next game. However, with a Wednesday "bye", we had plenty of time to prepare for our final game of the first semester, a road contest at Southwest Baptist University (SBU). We took Sunday and Monday off to ensure that our players had ample time to prepare for a week of final exams and then we got back on the practice floor on Tuesday. We had 4 practice days to get ready for Saturday and try to finish the semester on a high note.

One area we have talked a lot about as a team, is the amount of experience that has returned from last year's team. I thought our experience was very evident on Tuesday and Wednesday. Often times, too many days of prep can really do a number on the focus of a team. Tuesday and Wednesday (a normal "game day" for us) have the capability to turn into lack-luster practices with little energy. It was very obvious that our players took the practice floor ready to compete, improve, and prepare for Saturday's game. After 4 days of very good practices we felt ready to go on the road, and compete very hard to win a basketball game.

Saturday's game at SBU was one of those games that a lot of people close to this basketball family will remember for a long time. Harold and Lena Mitts (Coach Mitts' parents) once again provided the backing for the "MOSO Spirit Bus" to head to Bolivar. Packed with fans, the bus met us in Bolivar and gave us great support! Many other Southern fans also followed the team to Bolivar and cheered us on and gave us an immense lift on the road.

In what proved to be a phenomenal game, we came out on top with a 69-66 win!! You can read all the details of the game HERE. With the win we hiked our record to 6-3 overall and 4-1 in the MIAA. After all the other league games played out over the weekend, we now find ourselves in a tie for 2nd place!! We have now won 4 in a row and 6 of our last 7. The level of energy, intensity and competitiveness that our team has shown has been the biggest key to our success.

In a holiday season that should be all about giving, we want to give you our sincerest "thank you". There are a lot of teams out there that are simply a collection of individuals trying to work together to put a leather ball in an iron hoop. However, thanks to so many of you, our program truly is a family. We are blessed with so many things and it is only right that we take a step back in this season and remember to be grateful. So, from our family to yours, please have a safe and very Merry Christmas!!

Until next time...It's a GREAT day to be a LION!!

Marcus Moeller
Assistant Coach

Winning 5 of our last 6 games!!

Today's post is written by Lindsey Rujawitz:

Hey bloggers!! Man, how the time flies! Last time I wrote for our blog I was a junior and now I am a big senior. The conference season is well underway and great things are happening with our family here at Southern.

As a recap of our early non-conference schedule, we opened up with Arkansas Fort Smith at their house and we showed some great character as a team being down big and making a furious comeback to eventually lose by 2. The next game on the schedule was ta op-10 nationally ranked opponent, Northeastern State University. The game proved difficult as we were unable to get the win....0-2 to start the year :( They say that life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you respond to it. It was time for us to respond.

The next week consisted of some very pointed film sessions and some GREAT practices as we prepared for our Thanksgiving Classic!! We had gone back to the practice floor determined to make good on our goal of winning 20 ball games this year. The tournament was a great kickoff to getting us going in the right direction as we got two great home wins. Back to 2-2 and headed in the right direction!!

Conference play was next up and we knew we had to play well to get off on the right foot! As you all well know, the MIAA conference is an exciting race from beginning to end. The preseason polls picked us 6th and we are determined to show that we were deserving of much higher. After falling to Truman to open the conference season on the road, we had a "players only" meeting and reminded everyone of 2 things...1.) We have 5 seniors on our team, 2.) We have 8 people that know our system because they are returners from last year!! We then laid out some of the things that had to change in order for us to get where we want to go.

The next 3 games (Central Missouri, Missouri Western and Lincoln) for us were all at home. This was a chance for us to have our home crowd supporting us as we righted the ship and really got back to Missouri Southern basketball. As a team we made a complete turnaround. After beating Central Missouri, Missouri Western and Lincoln University, we now sit 3-1 in conference and 3rd in our league!! We not only made a complete turnaround but we have also had 6 different Lions (Jasmine, Erin, Michelle, Larrita, Kelby, and Me) set their career high scoring marks this year!!

FINALS WEEK!! We are finishing up Final Exams this week and then we play at Southwest Baptist University on Saturday! It is imperative that both academically and athletically, we finish this semester strong!! As a senior I could not ask for anything more for my last year. As a team we really are a true family and we have all formed great relationships on and off the court. As far as basketball is concerned, naturally I want this year to finish with a bang!! We look forward to working everyday as hard as we can toward our goal of playing with an abnormal energy level and passion!! We can't wait to have you along for the ride with us!!

Until next time...It's a GREAT day to be a LION!

Lindsey Rujawitz
Senior Forward

A season dedicated to Mike Hedgecock

Today's post is written by Assistant Coach Marcus Moeller:

Typically, the picture we use for each blog is a representation of the writer of this week's blog post; however, this week is an exception. I had planned to ask Junior Forward Michelle Hedgecock (pictured right) to write a post about the driving force behind the extra importance of this basketball season. I was excited for her to share with you about the person that she has dedicated this season to...but I got beat to the punch. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jim Henry (Sports Editor at the Joplin Globe) for the only gameday article that has ever brought the Missouri Southern Women's Basketball Family to tears.

Please enjoy this article entitled: MSSU's Hedgecock finding her 'why'

Until next time...It's a GREAT day to be a LION!!

Marcus Moeller
Assistant Coach