The Missouri Western women’s basketball team fell short in their season opener falling 91-68 against the Quincy University Hawks. The Griffons were led by Jessica Koch with 19 points and eight rebounds. Western falls to 0-1 on the season.

Western played the first ten and a half minutes close with Quincy taking a 23-22 lead after a Kallie Schoonover lay-up with 9:27 left in the first half. From there the Hawks caught fire from long range closing on a 32-13 run claiming a 54-36 lead at the break.

Quincy hit 11-of-21 long range shots with Kassidy Shuman connecting on 6-of-7 from long range finishing the half with 19 points. Western made 13-of-27 field goal attempts with Brittany Griswold connecting on 3-of-7 leading Western with seven points.

The Hawks hot shooting continued into the second half as they built their lead to as many as 35 after a jumper by Kelly Buresh with 7:52 to play in the game. Western continued to battle but it would be enough falling by 23.

The Griffons shot 50-percent (28-56) for the game as Koch made 8-of-15 shot attempts. Griswold finished with 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting.

The Hawks improve to 1-0 as they finished shooting 46.6-percent (34-73) form the field and 45.5-percent (15-33) from long range. Shuman finished with a game hit 21 points while Ali Schwagmeyer and Kelly Buresh chipped in 15 apiece.

The Griffons return to action on Friday, November 18 with a contest against Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo. Tip is set for 7:00 pm CST.

— MWSU Sports Information —