BOLIVAR, Mo. – A Kyrsten Crawford three-point attempt bounced off the back of the rim, up and off the front of the rim as time expired in a 65-62 loss at Southwest Baptist for the Missouri Western women’s basketball team. It was the team’s fifth loss of seven points or less and dropped the team to 7-8 overall and 2-7 in the MIAA.  MWSU has now lost 15 consecutive games.

Once again the Griffons had their chances, tying the game twice in the final 2:30 after trailing for the entire game. Two free throws from Alex Saxen with 16 seconds left brought MWSU with in one at 63-62 but two free throws on the other end from Megan Rosenbohm pushed the SBU lead to three with five seconds to go. Crawford’s open three looked too strong but hit the back of the rim as the buzzer sounded then bounced up and almost fell through with zeros on the clock.

Southwest Baptist took advantage of 84 percent free throw shooting to stay ahead of the Griffons. SBU was a perfect 10-10 in the first half, including six straight to open the game with a 6-0 lead. The Griffons were led by LaQuinta Jefferson’s 17 points, followed by 16 from Miliakere Koyamainavure, whose eight rebounds also led the team.

Missouri Western shot 43 percent to 37.5 for Southwest Baptist and won the rebound battle 35-27. Sixteen total turnovers, including 12 in the first half hurt the Griffons, along with going just 2-12 (16.7%) from three-point range.

The team is off until Saturday when the Griffons host Missouri Southern at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sports Information —