Warrensburg, Mo. -India Wood scored a career-high 22 points to lead the No. 23-ranked Missouri Southern Lions to a 85-82 win over the Central Missouri Jennies Saturday afternoon (Jan. 12) in Warrensburg, Mo.

The win is the Lions' first in the MIAA and makes them 10-3 overall and 1-3 in conference action.

The first conference victory would not come easily as the Lions had to battle to the very end to pick up the win. Trailing 77-76, Wood hit her sixth three-pointer of the game to give Southern the lead for good with 58 seconds left.

After Wood hit a pair of free throws to give the Lions a four-point lead, Kelce Goebel drove in for a layup to bring UCM to within 81-79 with 12 seconds left.

But Ela Zawadka calmly stepped up to the line and nailed four big free throws to seal the win for the Lions (10-3, 1-3 MIAA).

The Lions fell behind early by six at 14-8, but ripped off a 13-1 run led by nine points from Tynesha Pierce to take a 21-15 lead with 12:23 remaining in the opening half.

Southern went on to lead by 10 at the half, 48-38 behind a combined 24 first-half points from Pierce and Fatai Hala'Api'Api. Wood also hit four treys to help the Lions gain the double-digit halftime lead.

The Jennies (5-8, 0-4 MIAA) took their first lead of the second half at 57-56 on a three by Deidra Dace that capped a 12-2 UCM run with 12:49 left.

With UCM playing mostly zone in the second half, Danielle DeVader stepped up for the Lions and hit four threes, three of which gave the Lions the lead.

Besides scoring a team-high 22 points, Wood also dished out a game-high six assists and knocked down 6-7 from beyond the arc. DeVader scored 15 on 5-of-5 shooting from the perimeter, while Pierce added 13 points and six rebounds. Fatai wound up with 12 and also pulled down six boards.

Lindsey Maple kept the Jennies in the game by scoring a game-high 25 points, including 5-of-8 from three-point distance. Goebel scored 17 and Jojuana Jones scored 15 and recorded a game-high 10 rebounds. Dace also added 15 and hit 3-of-5 from three-point distance.

Both teams shot the ball well as the Lions hit 59.6 percent (28-of-47) from the floor, while the Jennies were 45.3 percent (24-of-53) from the field.

The Lions enjoyed a big advantage on the boards, out-rebounding UCM 32-21 overall and had a 23-12 edge in defensive rebounds.

Southern will remain on the road and play at Northwest Missouri State on Wednesday night (Jan. 16). Game-time will be 5:30 p.m. in Maryville, Mo.