What Junior taught us

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

Today, Coach Hubbard and I were sitting in the office going over the scouting report of our next opponent, Missouri Western. Coach Hubbard has a phenomenal mind for the game of basketball and I really enjoy listening to her break it down into its finest pieces. Scouting reports have always kind of baffled me. The reason I say that is, while I really enjoy doing them, a loss can make you feel like you've wasted a lot of time (between watching films, breaking down individual players, offenses, defenses, out of bounds situations, and game-flow tendencies, they require A LOT of time). As we sat there in the office I was reminded of one of my favorite stories...

One of my all time favorite basketball stories revolves around an extremely gifted Junior College player Junior. This week was a particularly big week for Junior and his teammates. You see, they were scheduled to play Allen County Community College, who was headlined by a guy named Isaiah "J.R." Rider. J.R. went on to be an All-American for Jerry Tarkanian at UNLV, the 5th overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft and played in "The League" until 2001. Rider was a man amongst boys at the JUCO level.

All week, in preparation for the game, Junior's coaching staff had stressed that Allen County ran the same play to open "EVERY SINGLE" game. The play consisted of a rear screen that lead to an alley-oop dunk for J.R. Rider. The coaching staff was adamant the game NOT start that way. All week the same message, "don't let Rider start the game with a dunk". Game day finally comes:

Coach: "Junior, what play is Allen gonna run to start the game?"
Junior: "Rear screen for the alley-oop to Rider."
Tip-off is here...the ball goes up and Allen County wins the tip. Rider is on the wing, rear screen comes, Rider goes back door and (as i'm sure you've guessed by now) makes the lane his launching pad as he catches the alley-oop and slams it home. Junior turns to run down the floor, looks at his coaches and proclaims with an excitement in his voice "Coach, you were right! They ran that play just like you said they would!!

If Junior only knew...

Saturday is a VERY SPECIAL day for our program. We are hosting our annual "Pink Night" and we would love to see you there. Our jerseys will be auctioned off to the 14 highest bidders, with all of the proceeds going to benefit breast cancer research. The festivities will also include a halftime presentation that will be very special. Please join us, you will not be disappointed.

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

Marcus Moeller
Assistant Coach

The Halfway Point...Almost

This post was written by Assistant Coach Marcus Moeller :

This Wednesday marks the halfway point of the conference season. After our home game against Northwest Missouri State, 10 games will have been played and there will be 10 left. As with any season, this one has shown the parody and power of the MIAA conference. With no team undefeated, the second half promises to be an intense race to Kansas City.

The last 8 days has been a wild ride for our program:

Last Saturday we went to Topeka, KS to face then unbeaten and #6 nationally ranked Washburn University. A GREAT team defensive effort and a phenomenal individual performance by Junior Jasmine Lovejoy (23 points and 17 rebounds!!) proved to be enough for the Lions to pick up the road victory!!

Two days later we traveled west to take on Ft. Hays State University. As is often the case in the MIAA, the 2^nd game of the 4 day road trip proved

to be a very tough one. After jumping out to an 8 point first half lead, we were unable to get the defensive stops we needed in the second half, and came up just short at the final buzzer.

After a Wednesday bye (due to our Monday contest at Ft.Hays), we looked forward to returning home to take on the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Another GREAT crowd was on hand during this back and forth contest. With 2 minutes to go and the game in the balance, we grabbed 3 offensive rebounds and eventually LaTice Jones scored the layup on what proved to be the play of the game for our team! We came away with a 60-57 win!

If you have looked over the league standings, you realize that the league championship is still up for grabs. There is a log jam (as is typical for the MIAA) throughout the league and the second half should be a blast to watch. We look forward to making a GREAT push for Municipal Auditorium and the conference tournament in Kansas City.

The last thing I want to leave you with are some important dates coming up for our program.
February 6^th we take on Missouri Western at

home. This night will be special as it is our “pink night”. Toting home white jerseys trimmed in pink, we will honor several people very close to our program, whose lives have been affected by Breast Cancer.
February 20^th is our final home game and “senior

night”. This night we will honor the careers of our 2 seniors, Randi Henderson and Jolea Apon. The presentation to them and their families will take place at halftime of the men’s game.

Please join us for these 2 special events.

Until next time…It’s a GREAT day to be a LION!!

Marcus Moeller
Assistant Coach

An Evening In December

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

Even in the short history of this 24 year old, there are several moments that are forever etched in the corridors of my brain. A few examples would be:

April 5, 1993--that was the day that Chris Weber called that infamous timeout (forgetting they had already used all of their timeouts) against my beloved Tar Heels to lock up the National Championship for Dean Smith and Co. I was only 8, but I can still picture the room where I sat and the furniture that quickly became my jungle gym as I paraded around in celebration.

September 11, 2001--the attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the devastation that followed was astonishing. I remember continually watching the coverage throughout the day at school. I had always hoped that school would turn into a television-a-thon...but I never had envisioned it being under these gruesome circumstances.

November 12, 2002--Suzie Ditzfield Field in Sedalia, MO was my sanctuary that cold blustery evening. My high school soccer team had advanced to the Quarterfinal of the MSHSAA state tournament. It was our school's first trip that deep in the state playoffs. After a couple fortuitist bounces, we came away 4-2 winners and were headed to the school's first ever Final Four appearance. (we lost 4 days later 2-1 in OT to the eventual state champs). We were fortunate enough to follow it up by returning to the Final Four my senior year.

May 17, 2004--The day I graduated high school. However, this was no ordinary graduation day. I was also playing in the Missouri State High School Golf tournament. It started with a 10 am tee time, continued with a less than stellar opening day on the links and then culminated with a rat race back to Joplin. I was fortunate enough to arrive 4 minutes before I was supposed to walk and recieve a rather important piece of paper.

August 6, 2004--The day my sister got married. The thing that will always stick out in my mind about this day is that I was honored to walk my sister down the aisle and hand her off...in fact my exact words were, "Drew, she's all yours" (i said with a grin)

Likewise, December 21, 2009 is a day that I don't expect to forget anytime soon. Yesterday we played a home contest against Southwestern College (KS). The festivities included a tribute to the late Charlie Williams before the game and an alumni social following the game.

Charlie Williams was a legend of the game of basketball in this area (including a short stint as an Assistant Coach in our program). After serving over 25 years at a local christian college as the Athletic Director and Men's and Women's basketball coach, he served as the boy's basketball coach at a local high school for another 4 years. Coach Williams won over 700 games combined at all levels and is a member of the Missouri Basketball Hall of Fame. However, anyone who knew Coach Williams, understood that his impact went far beyond his astonishing record. He was a man that cared deeply about the lives of the young men and women that played for him. He truly cared more about his players as people than he did as basketball players. Charlie Williams was simply a great person, and he will be dearly missed.


Coach Williams rarely missed one of our games. One time Coach Mitts explained that she hates how we are on defense in the second half because she feels like they are all the way on the other end of the floor and they can't hear her as well. To that Coach Williams replied, "It's okay Maryann, i'll coach them!" Sure enough, Coach Wiliams sat on the first row (in the same seat every game) and coached up our girls in the second half. In rememberance of Coach Williams, we placed a placque on the seat back of his chair and our team placed flowers in a vase that sat next to Coach Williams' seat. His wife and 2 sons were in attendance as we honored the late Coach.

At halftime of the game we honored several alumni that came back for the game. After the game they stuck around and we had an extended ammount of time to talk. It was GREAT to see some faces from the past and to get caught up on all the success they are having. As you can imagine the stories starting flying around. Jean Hurt (a member of the first team Coach Mitts had here at Southern) even made her way to the lockeroom before the game...she even challenged any of our current players to a 3-point contest! (typical Jean). Some of the players that returned really paved the way for everything going on in our prgram now, it was such a great evening to see them!

Overall, the evening was one that I (and several others in attendance) will never forget.

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

Marcus Moeller
Assistant Coach

Lions, and Finals, and Christmas! OH MY!

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

The word "Finals" conjures up so many different thoughts and emotions for college students. Some students barely even acknowledge the week. These students believe that no amount of studying can help them revive their grade from the depths of where it has fallen during the semester. To some, it is a cuss word. These people fear they are unprepared to take an exam that will test what they have (or have not) learned over the span of the entire semester. Others relish the idea of finals. These students understand that this week signifies the culmination of another long semester and relish the opportunity finish the class and move on to a 4 week break.

To college basketball coaches and players, Finals Week gives the 2 parties a chance to take a deep breath and slow down for a minute. The athletes get to focus on finals, and the coaches focus on their team. This gives the staff a great chance to sit down and truly evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the team, and put together an attack plan for the upcoming break. The practices we have during this short time will be aimed at breaking things down, and being perfect in the "little things." This is a GREAT time to regroup and recharge for the next part of our season.

Christmas break is the best 4 weeks of the season (barring any postseason run, of course). We get to spend more time with our team, we get to see family, and we get a chance to continue the race to the championship. On December 28th we open conference play back up with a home tilt against SBU. We will get a great gauge of our team as we will play 3 conference games in 6 days. The Christmas season (coupled with the conference season) will be a GREAT one for our basketball program. Please come celebrate it with us by attending our Dec 21st and Dec 28th home games!

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

Marcus Moeller
Assistant Coach

Opening Week

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

The NCAA Division II season has been officially underway for 7 days. The week had ups and downs, but we learned a lot and were able to end on a high note. Last Sunday we opened our season on the road in Tahlequah, OK. We faced a veteran NSU RiverHawks team and went home on the losing end of a hard fought game.

You can learn a lot about the maturity of a basketball team by watching how they respond to a loss. Needless to say, the following couple days were important for our team. After taking Monday off, we got back at it with an intense practice on Tuesday. We really stressed the little things. It was very important that we go back to focusing on simple things like catching and passing the basketball, making layups, making free throws, valuing the basketball…Tuesday through Thursday we worked very hard to correct some of the things that really plagued us vs. NSU. While it is safe to say that it wasn’t the best 3 days of practices we’ve ever had, it was obvious that we were making strides in the right direction. Winning on the road takes mental toughness and we grew in that area during these practices.

On Thursday evening, after practice, it was off to Emporia, Kansas to play in the ESU Tip-Off Classic. We had 2 quality opponents ahead of us (Evangel University--#21 in NIAA Division 1 poll-- and Eastern New Mexico University) and we knew we must play inspired, with lots of energy and emotion in order to get the results we wanted. Friday night we faced Evangel. Using our defense to create for our offense, we came away with a 79-43 win. Our defensive effort and intensity was finally starting to get closer to the “Southern Way” of playing defense.

I stated earlier that “You can learn a lot about the maturity of a basketball team by watching how they respond to a loss.” Well, it might be true that you can learn MORE about the maturity of a basketball team by watching how they respond to a win. Saturday was another great opportunity for our basketball team to prove their maturity. The challenge before us was a fast and athletic Eastern New Mexico team. The first half was a see-saw affair that saw the Zias hit a buzzer beating 3, sending us to the locker room with only a 4 point lead. However, fueled by a great start to the second half, we were able to pull away and win the contest 76-58. We were headed home 2-1 on the season! After the contest we learned that Michelle Hedgecock (Averaged 11.5 pts and 8.5 rbs) and Jasmine Lovejoy (Averaged 15.5 pts) had been named to the all-tournament team. Congrats ladies!

This weekend was GREAT for our team. Now we have 4 days to prepare for the Pizza Hut/Fairfield Inn Classic held in our very own Leggett and Platt Athletic Center. Can’t wait to come back and play in front of our AWESOME fans!

Until next time…It’s a GREAT day to be a LION!!

Marcus Moeller
Assistant Coach

The Birthplace of Basketball...and ME!!

Today's post is written by Jr. guard Jasmine Lovejoy:

Hello everyone, my name is Jasmine Lovejoy and I am a junior guard from Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska. I am originally from Springfield, Massachusetts. I am very proud to be from Springfield because of the major role that basketball has played in its history. One interesting thing that a lot of people may not know is that basketball was founded and invented there, and is also where the basketball Hall of Fame is.

Growing up it was very important for me to play a sport. Being from that area, I chose the sport that everyone else chooses…basketball. When I was younger, I watched a lot of old basketball games that had players who were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Watching current and future Hall of Famers really made me take basketball more seriously. It really made me strive to become a better player. As I got older, I began to understand how important it is to be from the area called “the birth place of basketball.” I felt very fortunate that the game that I have grown to love has the same birthplace as me!!

After all the positives, there were actually a few negatives to growing up in Springfield. The most glaring negative was the expectation and standard placed on me to be a GREAT basketball player. The other negative in that area was the number of all girls teams (or lack thereof). There were tons and tons of boy’s teams growing up, but very few all girls teams.

I am very thankful to have grown up in Springfield. It really causes me to appreciate the game of basketball and its historical significance.

I am so excited for our season to get started. I hope to see everyone out in the stands!

Until next time…It’s a GREAT day to be a LION!!

Jasmine Lovejoy
Jr. Shooting Guard

Close to home

Today's post is written by Jr. Shooting Guard Afton Baldwin:

My name is Afton Baldwin and I am a junior here at Missouri Southern. I am an elementary education major from Nevada, Missouri. I have lived in Nevada my whole life and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. It's the perfect place for me. I have two wonderful parents, Mark and Penny Baldwin and three siblings, Bridget (22), Austin (18), and Carolyne (10). We have seven pets (two dogs and five cats). I am very close to my family and enjoy going home and seeing them.

I went to Nevada High School where I played basketball for Brent Bartlett. He is a great coach. He taught me how to play the game of basketball and I really enjoyed playing for him.Out of high school I chose to continue my playing career at Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri. I chose to go there mainly because it was only an hour and 15 minutes from home.

Another reason I chose Crowder was because my sister, Bridget, went to school there for two years on a softball scholarship and she really enjoyed it. I also really liked being on a campus small enough to walk everywhere. Finally, I really enjoyed the people at Crowder. Playing for Coach Tina Robbins was a great experience and one I am very thankful for.

As my sophomore year at Crowder got into full swing I realized that I was serious enough about basketball that I wanted to continue playing at the next level. My desire to stay close to home had not changed and I was looking for a great program that was within a couple hours of home. I chose to come to Missouri Southern just a few weeks before school started and I'm so glad that I did!! I used to come to the basketball camps here at Southern when I was in high school (from my freshman-senior year). As a result, I've been familiar with the basketball program here at Southern for quite awhile.

Coming to Southern is one of the best decisions I have ever made. This is definitely the hardest I've ever worked on the basketball floor. Our practices are tough, but I enjoy seeing the daily improvement. Our coaches really push us toward excellence everyday we step onto the court. I feel very lucky to be a part of this team and I'm excited to see how well we do this year!

Until next time…It’s a GREAT day to be a LION!!

Afton Baldwin
Jr. Shooting Guard
Nevada, MO