ST. JOSEPH – For more than 20 minutes, it looked like the fifth-ranked Missouri Western Women’s Basketball team would suffer its first loss of the season, but an improbable comeback lifted the Griffons to 18-0 on the season with a 77-75 win over No. 3 Fort Hays State.

With 34 seconds left in the game, Sarafina Handy knocked down a three-point shot that gave Missouri Western its first lead since the 3:45 mark of the first quarter. The Griffons trailed by as many as 20 in the first half and didn’t cut the Fort Hays lead to single digits until late in the third quarter. Missouri Western scored 22 in the third quarter, allowing just nine points by Fort Hays. The Griffons dropped 22 more in the fourth and limited Fort Hays to 15.

Miliakere Koyamainavure tied the game at 71 with 2:26 remaining. A free throw by Taylor Chandler gave Fort Hays back a one-point advantage. Then Handy knocked down the three that send the 3,275 in attendance into a frenzy. LaQunita Jefferson made three free throws in the closing seconds to help Missouri Western build a 77-72 lead. Beth Bohuslavsky sunk a long-distance three as time expired to cut the margin to two points.

Jefferson finished with a game-high 18 points on 46.2 percent shooting from the field, and eight rebounds. Handy finished with 15 points on 2-6 shooting from behind the arc and 5-11 from the field. Every other Griffon that played in the game scored at least five points. Mhykeah Baez led the Griffons on the glass, pulling down nine rebounds. As a team, Missouri Western out-rebounded Fort Hays 50-35. Chelsea Dewey scored seven and added seven assists.

It was Missouri Western’s first win over a top-5 team since defeating No. 4 Washburn in the MWSU Fieldhouse in 2010 and its second over a top-10 team in the last five days. It moved the Griffons to 18-0 overall, 12-0 in the MIAA and now a two-game lead atop the MIAA standings. Missouri Western will host Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday.

— MWSU Athletics —