MANKATO, Minn. – They’ve lived by the three, and on Tuesday night, the Missouri Western women’s basketball team died by the three.

The Griffons shot just 16.7 percent (5-30) from behind-the-arc in a 65-54 loss at Minnesota State. It was the season opener for the Mavericks (1-0). Missouri Western (2-1) made a combined 24 three pointers in their first two games of the season, but couldn’t replicate that number in their first road game of 2016-17. The Mavericks limited Western to 31.7-percent shooting from the field and outrebounded MWSU 54-30.

Western did force 24 turnovers in defeat but also struggled from the free throw line, shooting just 53-percent (9-17) from the charity stripe. Dwanisha Tate led three Griffons in double figures, finishing with 14 points on 4-16 shooting and 5 rebounds. Chelsea Dewey and Sefulu Faavae added 11 points and 10 points respectively.

Next up for the Griffons, a first-time-ever road trip to Hawaii. They will face Hawaii Pacific on Friday, November 18 at 9 p.m. central time. They finish out the island trip on Saturday with an 11 p.m. tip-off against Brigham Young-Hawaii.

— MWSU Athletics —