The Missouri Western women–still  searching for a shooting touch—may have found a new remedy.  But despite a career night from freshman Alex Saxen, the Griffons  couldn’t find a way to cool off Washburn.

The Lady Blues used 51.5 % (34-66) shooting to down the Griffons 87-63  in Lee Arena Saturday.   The Griffons and Lady Blues traded leads early, but Washburn used a 20-3 run midway through the first half to take control and never look back in the runaway victory.

Saxen was a bright spot for the Griffons scoring a career-high 21 points (5-9 fg, 8-8 FT)  and playing a career high 24 minutes in the loss.

Senior Jessica Koch added 18 points (6-16 FG) and 10 rebounds, while playing all 40 minutes.   It’s her 19th straight game scoring double figures, and she moves to 6th all-time on the Missouri Western career scoring list.

The Griffons went to halftime down 41-25, and did get to cut the lead to 13 out of the locker room, but the Lady Blues drained three pointers on four straight possessions to push their lead to 20.

Washburn would push its lead to as many as 32, when an Ebonie Williams jumper at the 6:30 mark made it 76-44.

Still, Western played hard from buzzer to buzzer.  And got contributions from younger, less experience players like Saxen and  Kaitlyn Mercer, who played a career-high 10 minutes.

Western falls to 2-7 overall and 0-5 in MIAA play.  Washburn Improves to 10-3 and 3-1 in the MIAA.

The Griffons have the next week off and will return to action on December 31st at Nebraska-Omaha.

— MWSU Sports Information —