The Griffons fell behind in the first half but maintained their confidence throughout Friday night’s game to pull out the 57-54 victory against Illinois-Springfield. The win put the Griffons at 3-0 for the first time since 2004.

The Griffons shot just 30 percent in the first half, going 9-for-30 from the floor. They took a 4-3 lead in the first two minutes, but trailed the rest of the half, going into the break behind 28-22.

Sharniece Lewis nailed a 3-pointer at the 17:18 mark in the second half to begin the Griffons’ comeback after the score was 30-27. JaQuitta Dever put in a layup followed by Brittany Griswold’s layup to give Missouri Western its first lead since early in the first half.

The Griffons snatched a 10-point lead with 4:57 to play off of a layup by Alicia Bell to take a 53-43 lead, but Illinois-Springfield came back to make things interesting.

The Griffons had a 57-51 lead when Alex Saxen grabbed her second steal of the game, but Illinois Springfield’s Carly Goede brought the team back with a 3-pointer to mark the score 57-54 with 42 seconds to play.

MWSU played solid defense in the waning seconds, and the Prairie Stars couldn’t shoot the ball in the final 10 seconds as MWSU won the game 57-54.

Heather Howard had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Lanicia Lawrence had a solid performance, scoring eight points with five rebounds and four assists.

Up Next: The Griffons go to St. Louis to play Maryville University at 6 p.m., Saturday, November 17.

— MWSU Sports Information —