The Missouri Western women’s basketball team were able to win a defensive struggle in their first road game of the season by a score of 63-59 against the Rockhurst University Hawks. The Griffons outscored the Hawks 9-4 in the final 4:47 of the game keeping them undefeated on the season at 4-0. The Griffons had 12 players score in the game with Sharniece Lewis leading the way with 10 points.

The first half was a back and fourth battle with neither team leading by more than three points. The Griffons largest lead was at 29-27 when Quenisha Lockett hit a free throw with 2:19 to play in the first half. Kendall Hart’s layup with 14 second left helped the Hawks close the half on a 7-4 run giving them a 34-33 lead.

Missouri Western opened the second half an a 9-3 run helping them to their largest lead of the game at 42-37 after an Ariana Novak free throw with 15:22 to play in the game. The Hawks responded going on a 13-6 run which was capped by Mary Dineen giving Rockhust the 50-48 lead with 9:11 to play. The teams continued to back and forth but with two free throws by Lewis with 4:20 to play gave the Griffons the lead for good.

The Griffons shots just 31-percent (18-58) from the field and 29.4-percent (5-17) from long range. They did make 71-percent (22-31) of their free throws. MWSU had 20 offensive rebounds and 14 second chance points. They also had 33 bench points and nine assists in the contest.

The Hawks fall to 3-2 on the season as they had three players score in double figures. Dineen led the way with 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting and going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. The Hawks made 29-of-36 free throw attempts in the game.

The Griffons return to action on Friday, November 29 when they travel to Springfield, Mo. to participate in the Doubletree/Houlihans Thanksgiving Classic. They will take on the Drury Panthers at 5:30 pm in the O’Reilly Family Event Center.

— MWSU Sport Information —