The Missouri Western women couldn’t overcome red hot shooting by No. 15 Pittsburg State, falling 86-68 Saturday, Jan. 21 at the MWSU Fieldhouse. The Griffons fell to 5-11 overall, 3-8 in the MIAA and the Gorillas improved to 16-2 and 10-1.

Western shot 36.8 percent from the field and just 43.5 percent from the free throw line after coming into the game leading the conference in free throw percentage. Meanwhile, the Gorillas shot 49 percent from the field for the game.

Western trailed by 33 with 4:35 remaining in the game but was able to close the gap with a full-court press defense. Jessica Koch extended her streak of consecutive games scoring in double digits to 26 games with 24 points to lead all scorers. Ashleigh Curry finished with a double-double on 11 points and 13 rebounds. Curry was held scoreless in the first half and didn’t find a bucket until 15 minutes remaining in the game. Alicia Bell added 11 points and Alex Saxen had nine on 3-5 shooting from behind the arc.

The Griffons shot a balmy 22.2 percent from the field in the first half and after going into the game shooting 76.5 percent from the lin,e the women were just 4-8 from the charity stripe. Koch managed 13 points in the first to extend her double digit scoring streak. The Gorillas jumped out to an 11-0 run to start the game. Pitt. went to halftime shooting 61.5 percent from the field and a perfect 6-6 at the free throw line. Drew Roberts was hot from outside in the first, shooting 4-7 and gong to the locker room leading all scorers with 12 points.

The women return to action Wednesday, Jan. 25 when they travel to Emporia, Kan., to take on the Hornets at 5:30 p.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —