PITTSBURG, Kan. – After winning its first 18 games of the season, the 6th-ranked Missouri Western Women’s basketball team has lost two in a row after dropping a heartbreaker at Pittsburg State, 83-80 on Wednesday.
There were four ties in the final five minutes of the game with each team taking the lead twice after the ties. On the night, the score was tied 12 times with nine lead changes.
Pittsburg State built an eight-point lead with 9:32 left in the game but Missouri Western recaptured the lead with 4:42 to go on two free throws from LaQuinta Jefferson. The senior guard scored 11 points in the Griffons’ 13-3 run to regain the lead. Kylie Gafford tied the game for Pittsburg State at 74 with 4:19 left then gave the Gorillas the lead back with two free throws. Miliakere Koyamainavure tied the game with 3:01 left at 76 and Jefferson tied it again with 2:30 remaining and after a Mikaela Burgess three gave Pitt State the lead back, Jefferson made three of four free throw attempts after being fouled and a technical foul was called on Pittsburg State. Jefferson had a chance to tie the game at 81 with 36 seconds left but made one of two to leave the team down one at 81-80. Pittsburg State would make two more free throws with three seconds left. Sarafina Handy had a chance to tie the game at the end, launching a three at the buzzer that went long.
The stat sheet showed a close contest with the Griffons shooting 49.2 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from three-point range and 72.7 percent at the free throw line. Missouri Western also won the battle on the glass, finishing with 37 rebounds to the Gorillas’ 30. The difference seemed to come at the free throw line where Pittsburg State shot 82.8 percent, making eight more free throws than the Griffons on seven more attempts. Missouri Western went 16-22 from the charity stripe, Jefferson accounted for 13 of the makes and 18 of the attempts. Jefferson, Handy and Julia Torres were the only Griffons to attempt free throws.
Jefferson finished with a game-high 29 points, five rebounds and a team-high four assists. Handy added 16 points, 12 in the first half. Miliakere Koyamainavure finished with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds. The loss dropped Missouri Western to 18-2 on the season, 12-2 in MIAA play. The Griffons stay on the road this week with a trip to Missouri Southern on Saturday.
— MWSU Athletics —