ST. JOSEPH – In a season that continues to produce milestones not achieved in more than a decade, the undefeated Missouri Western women’s basketball team achieved another. The Griffons hit No. 5 in the in the latest WBCA/USA TODAY poll released this afternoon. It’s the highest ranking for the program since hitting No. 2 in the same poll in 2007.

Missouri Western is 17-0 overall and 11-0 in the MIAA, the program’s best ever start. Last week the team won at Washburn and at No. 9 Emporia State. It was the first time since the 2003-04 season Missouri Western had won on the road against either MIAA opponent. It also marked the first time since the 2003-04 season the team won at Central Missouri, Washburn and Emporia State in the same season. Thursday, the team will have a chance to pull off its first top-5 win since 2010 when No. 3 Fort Hays State visits the MWSU Fieldhouse. It will be the first matchup of top-5 teams in the MWSU Fieldhouse since 2007 when No. 2 Missouri Western hosted No. 3 Washburn.

Missouri Western enters Thursday’s game ranked in the top-10 nationally in six statistical categories and leading the MIAA in nine. The Griffons have claimed MIAA Women’s Basketball Athlete of the Week honors five times this season, including Sarafina Handy sharing the honor with Fort Hays State’s Paige Lunsford this past week. Handy was the first Griffon other than LaQuinta Jefferson to claim the honor this year. Jefferson leads the MIAA, shooting 58.3 percent from the field and scoring 23.1 points per game. She ranks third in the nation in scoring and fourth nationally in field goals made.

No Missouri Western team, officially, has won its first 17 games, and the team’s 11-0 start in MIAA play is second only to the 1993-94 team that went undefeated (16-0) in the MIAA. The Griffons’ seven road wins this season are the most in the Rob Edmisson era and their 17 wins are the most, officially, since the 2004-05 season (20-9).

— MWSU Athletics —