KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The slipper fits for the Cinderella Griffons. Missouri Western, who is the No. 12 seed in the MIAA Tournament, knocked off 4th-seeded Central Oklahoma 49-46 in the quartefinals of the MIAA Tournament Thursday at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.

The Griffons improve to 13-17, while UCO falls to 22-7.

Missouri Western became the first 12-seed to ever win an MIAA quarterfinal game and will now face the previous lowest seed to ever advance to the semifinals, No. 9-seed Lindenwood. The Lions made it to the semis for the second straight year as the 9-seed by upsetting No. 1-seed Central Missouri Thursday night. Missouri Western’s semifinal match-up with Lindenwood comes Saturday at 2:15 p.m.

Down by one at half, the Griffons outscored Central Oklahoma 29-25 in the second half. Two huge jumpers by Manaia Timson at the end of the third quarter gave the Griffons a 34-33 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Griffons stretched the lead to seven with 3:39 left in the game. Central Oklahoma cut the lead to two with 1:31 left, but Melia Richardson knocked down a pair of free throws with 21 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.

NOTABLES
– Richardson finished with a game-high 17 points

– Savannah Lentz scored nine points on 3-of-9 shooting from behind the arc

– KeShara Scott led MWSU with seven rebounds

– All three MWSU guards (Richardson, Lentz and Timson played all 40 minutes

– The Griffons held first team All-MIAA point guard Melinda Murillo to 4-of-10 shooting and forced her into four turnovers

– Central Oklahoma went 1-for-12 from three-point range

– Missouri Western led for exactly 20 minutes

UP NEXT
The Griffons play No. 9 seed Lindenwood in the MIAA Tournament semifinals inside Municipal Auditorium at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on 680 KFEQ AM.

— MWSU Athletics —