Dave Riggert – Page 672 – St. Joseph Post Archive

MWSU’s Bishop, Jordan Among Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Honorees

Posted on January 13, 2015January 13, 2015

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Griffon Softball’s Jackie Bishop and Griffon Football’s Michael Jordan will receive Special Achievement Awards from the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame during an enshrinement ceremony on Jan. 25.

This award is to recognize student athletes that have received an award or accolade on the National level. This award individually is primarily given only to those athletes of First Team All-American honor. They will be receiving personalized plaques distinguishing the award.

Bishop completed her record-breaking career with the Griffons last spring. The Kirksville, Mo. native was a First Team NFCA All-American and Second Team Daktronics All-American pitcher in 2014. She was also named the MIAA Pitcher of the Year and the Central Region Pitcher of the year. Bishop was a three-time First Team All-MIAA selection and left MWSU as the school’s all-time leader in wins (96), strikeouts (977), innings pitched (828.0), appearances (142) complete games (105) and shutouts (29). She also set single-season marks for strikeouts (291) and shutouts (12) and was an integral member of a senior class that went 159-62 in its time dawning the Black and Gold. She finished with a career record of 26-10 with a 1.36 ERA and was also named the MWSU Female Student-Athlete of the Year in 2014.

Jordan wrapped up his junior season with plenty of hardware. The defensive back was named First Team AFCA All-American and Third Team AP Little All-American. The St. Louis native was also a First Team All-MIAA selection for the second straight year along with being named to the Don Hansen All-Super Retion 3 second team and the Daktronics All-Super Region 3 second team. Jordan led the MIAA with 16 passed defended and tied for the league lead with four interceptions.

The 2015 Enrshrinement Ceremony and Banquet will be held Jan. 25 at the University Plaza Convention Center in Springfield, Missouri. Along with Bishop and Jordan, longtime Griffon supporter and member of the MWSU Ahtletics Hall of Fame, Bob Roth, will be enshrined as a member of the 2015 Missouri Sports Hall of Fame class.

— Wayne State Sports Information —

Missouri Western’s Jefferson named MIAA Player of the Week

Posted on January 13, 2015January 13, 2015

An unbelievable week by Missouri Western Women’s LaQuinta Jefferson has earned the junior guard MIAA Women’s basketball Athlete of the Week honors.

Jefferson scored 88 total points, averaging more than 29 points per game through three games this past week.

The Murfreesboro, Tennessee native shot 51 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range through games at Nebraska-Kearney; at home against No. 1 Emporia State and No. 5 Pittsburg State. Her 40 points at UNK last Monday were an MWSU single-game record.

She now leads the MIAA, averaging 22.1 points per game.,

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri State falls at home to Illinois State

Posted on January 11, 2015January 11, 2015

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Bobby Hunter hit 7 of 8 shots, including three 3-pointers, to score 17 points off the bench and lead Illinois State to a 69-55 win over Missouri State on Sunday.

Hunter had 12 points and MiKyle McIntosh had all 11 of his points as the Redbirds (10-6, 2-2 Missouri Valley) raced to a 49-27 lead at the half.

The Bears (8-8, 2-2) never got closer than 14 in the second half. Tyler McCullough was the leading scorer with 12 points and Marcus Marshall added 11.

With Hunter going 3 of 4 behind the arc, Illinois State was 9 of 15 but the Redbirds were only 11 of 35 from inside the line. Missouri State made just 1 of 13 treys and shot 36 percent for the game. The Bears were also outrebounded 39-29.

— Associated Press —

Petteway leads Nebraska past Illinois, 53-43

Posted on January 11, 2015January 11, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The story of Nebraska’s 53-43 win over Illinois Sunday is found in the numbers.

Illinois made just 15 of 55 shots, 27.3 percent, the lowest an opponent has shot against Nebraska since Tim Miles became the Cornhuskers’ coach in 2012. The Fightin’ Illini’s 43 points were the second fewest allowed by a Miles-coached Nebraska team.

“A big part of our offensive struggles, Nebraska deserves a lot of credit for that,” said Illinois coach John Gross. “Their defense is ranked in top 25 in the country for a reason when it comes to efficiency. I thought they were very difficult to score on tonight. I thought they defended very well. They did a great job.”

Nebraska forward David Rivers said the Husker defense worked as planned.

“We played pack defense and just executed what the coaches have been preaching to us all week,” Rivers said. “We were solid on defense packing it in, keeping it tight, trying to get the shooters the best we could. I think our screen-and-roll defense was good tonight and that was something we were working on.”

Nebraska (10-6, 2-2 Big Ten) built an 11-point lead midway through the second half and made 4 of 4 from the line in the final two minutes to seal the win. The Huskers shot and made just one free throw in the first 38 minutes of the game.

Illinois (11-6, 1-3) cut the Nebraska lead to six late in the game but struggled to hit shots. The Fightin’ Illini made just 15 of 55 shots and didn’t have a basket after the 3:14 mark until Aaron Cosby’s short jumper with :14 left.

Nebraska took the first double-digit lead of the game on Petteway’s 3-pointer that put the Huskers up 34-24 with 16:48 remaining. But Illinois’ Kendrick Nunn countered with a 3 on the next possession.

But the Illini fell behind 40-29 on Petteway’s layup with 11:06 left. Nebraska then went cold, hitting just one basket over a five-minute span. Leron Black’s dunk with 8:09 left capped a 6-2 Illinois spurt, cutting the lead to 42-36.

“We’re sitting there at one point, late in the game, 6, 7 minutes left, we’re holding them to 27 percent and we’re only up six,” Miles said. “I’m like `what do we got to do?’ You can’t play much better defense than that. It wasn’t like we were awful turning the ball over. We were shooting a decent percentage. But it was just one of those nights. Nobody’s going to the foul line. It’s going to be a tight game. I was proud of our team effort.”

Nebraska again pulled away, outscoring Illinois 7-2 in the next five minutes and taking a 49-38 lead on Petteway’s 3-pointer with 3:25 left. Illinois got no closer than eight the rest of the game.

Illinois, which didn’t lead after the 15:49 mark of the first half, put up 17 3-point shots in the first half and made just three, but Nebraska couldn’t take advantage of the poor shooting and led by just six at the half.

Shavon Shields had 11 points for Nebraska. Nunn and Malcolm Hill each had 10 for Illinois.

TIP INS

Illinois: The Illini played its second game without leading scorer and rebounder Rayvonte Rice. The senior guard, who was averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds a game, fractured a bone in his left hand Monday and underwent surgery Wednesday. He will be out for several weeks.

Nebraska: Avery Harriman, the seven-year-old son of Nebraska assistant Chris Harriman, joined Rivers and Shavon Shields at Nebraska’s post-game press conference. Avery, who has been battling leukemia, had no evidence of cancer in his second biopsy this week.

“For what he went through he is like — I mean he is little, but everybody can look up at what he has been through,” Rivers said. “He is big to the team, we are like a family. So it is big for everyone.”

UP NEXT

Illinois visits Northwestern Wednesday.

Nebraska visits Wisconsin Thursday.

— Associated Press —

Griffons fall to Pitt State on buzzer-beater

Posted on January 10, 2015

Javis Flynn provided the dagger for Pittsburg State as the Gorillas defeated the Missouri Western men’s basketball team 63-61 Saturday afternoon in the fieldhouse.

Flynn’s jumper at the buzzer broke the tie and knocked the Griffons to 7-7 on the year and 3-4 in MIAA play. After Cortrez Colbert tied the game at 61 on a goaltending call against Lamine Dieng, Flynn drove left and put up the shot to win it as time expired. It was the third time in the final two minutes that Colbert tied the game after the Griffons were able to erase an 11-point lead.

Colbert and Cole Clearman finished with 18 apiece for the Griffons, who shot just 41.5 percent from the field, including just 28 percent in the first half. Pittsburg State shot 56 percent for the game and 60 percent in the first half to build an 11-point halftime lead.

The Griffons take on defending national champion Central Missouri on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Bearcats’ six-game win streak snapped by Washburn

Posted on January 10, 2015January 11, 2015

MARYVILLE, Mo. – For the first time in 2015, the shots failed to drop consistently for Northwest Missouri State and it resulted in a 70-64 loss to Washburn Saturday at Bearcat Arena.

The loss snapped a six-game winning streak and dropped Northwest to 12-3 overall and 5-2 in the MIAA. Washburn improved to a 9-9 and 4-3.

“They were just tougher than us tonight,” Northwest senior Matt Wallace said.

Northwest lost its offensive rhythm late in the first half and never got on track in the second half.

The Bearcats were in reasonably good shape when the second half started. They trailed by just one point.

Washburn scored the first six points in the second half for a 35-28 lead. Freshman Justin Pitts finally scored for Northwest, ending a 15-0 run by Washburn.

“We had some turnovers and missed some shots and didn’t get to the paint as much as we needed to,” Wallace said. “That hurt.

“I don’t know if we thought we were going to blow them out like the last few games. It didn’t work out for us today.”

Pitts’ basket did not ignite a run. Northwest had trouble putting together consecutive baskets.

Washburn did a great job taking away points in the paint, and the three-pointer wasn’t falling with any consistency for the Bearcats.

Because of the missed shots, Northwest needed to rebound well, but Washburn pulled down 15 more rebounds than the Bearcats.

Another thing that hurt Northwest was the number of fouls called that prevented any flow from starting. The Bearcats operate best when the action is not stopped nearly every minute. There were a total of 49 fouls call, 28 of them on the Bearcats.

“It definitely hurt our rhythm,” junior Conner Crooker said. “We had to stop and then set up. They (Ichabods) did a good job of taking away things. We just have to be more focused.”

The Bearcats, who haven’t had foul trouble much this season, saw Zach Schneider, Justin Pitts and Grant Cozad all foul out.

To his credit, Wallace placed the blame on the loss on the Bearcats for not playing hard enough to earn the victory.

“To me, it felt like they wanted it more than us,” Wallace said. “They showed they weren’t going to go away and maybe we thought they would give it to us instead of taking it away from them.”

Northwest played so well in its previous three games that it would have been hard to maintain that level the rest of the season.

The Bearcats will look to bounce back 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at home against Southwest Baptist.

Northwest definitely want to forget the last 5 minutes of the first half on Saturday. Northwest offense bogged down and that allowed Washburn to score the last nine points and go into halftime with a 29-28.

It was the first time in 2015 that Northwest trailed at halftime. For much of the first half, it looked like the Bearcats was going to have the lead at the break.

After five lead changes, Northwest took an 11-9 lead on a three-pointer Schneider. Schneider broke an 11-11 with his patented four-point play. He does it once a game.

Slowly, Northwest grew its lead to 26-15 and then the Bearcats hit their first significant cold spell of the new year.

Still, Northwest shot 52 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, but allowed Washburn to shoot 55 percent.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

No. 11 Ravens roll to 81-64 victory over MidAmerica Nazarene

Posted on January 10, 2015January 11, 2015

The No. 11 Benedictine Men’s Basketball team took their third straight game out of the holiday break on Saturday as they used 14 3-pointers to earn a 81-64 win over the MNU Pioneers.

For Benedictine (14-3, 3-2 Heart), the 14 3-pointers set a new single-game team high in the Heart for made 3-pointers while the 77.8 percent effort also set a new conference single-game high.

MNU (3-11, 2-3 Heart) fell behind quickly against the Ravens as Benedictine started the game on a 11-0 run.

The Pioneers started to knock down their shots offensive while the Ravens went cold, which allowed MNU to close within four point.

Benedictine answered with another run, this time a 15-4 run that extended their advantage to as much as 13 before MNU closed out the half outscoring the Ravens 19-11 to send the game into halftime at 42-37 Ravens.

The second half saw two early ties but MNU was never able to grab the lead.

After the second tie, the Ravens went on a 14-2 run that pushed their lead back to 12 points.

MNU pulled within eight points minutes late but after John Harris Jr. pushed the Ravens lead back to 14 points, Benedictine never lead by less than 14 over the rest of the game.

Harris Jr. and Brett Fisher finished with 15 points each. Fisher helped anchor the Ravens night from beyond the 3-point arc as he finished with five 3-pointers.

Jallen Messersmith and Jake Schannuth each added 12 points. Schannuth went 4 for 4 from beyond the arc while Messersmith converted 5 of 7 from the floor. Messersmith also led the Ravens with eight rebounds and tallied five blocks defensively. It was the second time this season that Messersmith tallied five blocks, the first time was against Avila University back on Dec. 6.

Benedictine finished with a 28-16 advantage in points in the paint and were also able to capitalize on 15 Pioneers turnovers as the Ravens finished the game with a 13-2 advantage in points off turnovers.

The Ravens hit the road on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. game in Lamoni, Iowa, against Graceland University.

Graceland fell 88-71 to Evangel University in Springfield, Mo. Evangel remained in first place in the Heart as they moved to 4-0 a game and a half ahead of the Ravens who moved into tie third place with the win.

— BC Sports Information —

Missouri comes up short at Auburn

Posted on January 10, 2015January 11, 2015

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Cinmeon Bowers flexed his muscles for the crowd after making a late basket and drawing a foul, and did it with his play the rest of the night.

Bowers collected 20 points and 14 rebounds, many off his own misses, to lead Auburn to an 85-79 victory over Missouri on Saturday night.

As for the flex: “I just felt like doing something,” he said.

Malcolm Canada scored the final six points for Auburn (9-6, 1-1 Southeastern Conference), which trailed by eight points early in the second half.

Keith Shamburger led Missouri (7-8, 1-1) with a season-high 21 points, making 5 of 9 3-pointers.

Bowers powered for a basket with 1:30 left, flexing before the first of his three straight free throw misses. Wes Clark then hit a quick 3-pointer for his eighth straight point, making it 79-77.

Canada hit a jumper and then made four consecutive free throws over the final 21 seconds to seal the win while Missouri missed three straight 3-pointers.

“We got behind, came back, they made a run,” Missouri coach Kim Anderson said. “We didn’t make the plays we needed to at the end but I was really proud of the way we fought. We’ve been a little banged up and a little short at the guard spot, but we hung in there.

“Down the stretch, we couldn’t stop the dribble penetration and couldn’t keep them off the line.”

KT Harrell added 14 points for Auburn while K.C. Ross-Miller had 13 points and five assists before fouling out. Canada scored 10 points.

Bowers made repeated trips to the free-throw line, thanks in part to nine offensive rebounds. He made 11 of 18 free throws and hit both attempts after Keanau Post was called for a flagrant foul in the second half.

“When he did that, I knew it was war time,” Bowers said. “It sparked me up. I can’t play silent. I like to talk a lot of junk.”

Clark finished with 16 points and Tramaine Isabell had 12 points and four assists for Missouri.

Auburn grabbed the lead for good with an 11-0 run capped by Canada’s free throw with 3:28 left for a 74-67 edge.

Shamburger hit two free throws and Clark made a basket and subsequent foul shot to cut it to 74-72 less than a minute later.

Missouri trailed by as many as eight points before starting a 13-0 run that carried over into the second half. Shamburger’s two free throws with five seconds left cut the deficit to 41-40 at halftime.

Then Missouri scored the first nine points after the half, capped by Shamburger’s 3-pointer to go ahead 49-41.

Antoine Mason gave Auburn the lead back with a layup and 3-pointer for his first points of the night.

“Their energy kind of took over the game,” Clark said. “They played a little bit harder than us the last three minutes.”

—

TIP-INS

Missouri: Leading scorer Johnathan Williams III had nine points and eight rebounds but also committed five turnovers.

Auburn: Made 10 of 19 3-pointers (52.6 percent). Hit 25 of 37 free throws (67.6 percent).

UP NEXT

Missouri: Visits No. 1 Kentucky on Tuesday.

Auburn: Visits Florida on Thursday night.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES

Bowers reached double digits in both scoring and rebounds for the ninth time this season, and did it with ex-Auburn and NBA star Charles Barkley in the stands. He came into the game as one of only three major conference players averaging a double-double.

PLAYING HURT

Tahj Shamsid-Deen scored six points during the second-half spurt. He had totaled three points in the previous three games while nursing a shoulder injury.

— Associated Press —

Western women drop fifth straight as they fall to No. 5 Pitt State

Posted on January 10, 2015January 10, 2015

The Missouri Western women’s basketball team got hot in the second half but couldn’t overcome No. 5 Pittsburg State in an 81-71 loss in the fieldhouse Saturday afternoon. It was the fifth straight loss for the Griffons and dropped the team to 7-6 overall and 1-6 in MIAA play.

MWSU shot 61 percent from the from the field in the second half and 70 percent from behind the arc. Missouri Western was able to cut the Gorilla lead to single digits in the final minutes after trailing by as many as 20 but couldn’t hold Pitt State.

LaQuinta Jefferson once again eclipsed the 20-point mark, with a game-high 29 points. Mili Koyamainavure chipped in 10 as the team shot 50 percent from the field for the game.

MWSU will host Central Missouri on the 14th in the last of three straight at home.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Upset bid falls short for Northwest women against No. 13 Washburn

Posted on January 10, 2015

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team matured from a baby step in its last game to a teenager step Saturday in its 77-65 loss to No. 13 ranked Washburn at Bearcat Arena.

Junior Tember Schechinger felt that improvement from everybody on the team.

“Like I said in the locker room before coach came in, even though we lost, we are making huge strides,” Schechinger said. “We are cutting back on turnovers. We are playing the entire game. As long as we are not going backwards, forward is all we are looking at.”

Based on how the Bearcats played for most of the game, they are poised to step into victory lane in a MIAA game on Wednesday when they play at home against Southwest Baptist.

“I have just seen a different look in this team the last few days,” Northwest coach Michael Smith said. “The Oklahoma trip wasn’t fun for anybody. Our kids knew it.

“As a coach, all you can ask for are kids going to battle for you. I am really pleased with this group in general. They had a no-give-up attitude. Win or lose, I will coach that any day of the week. I am very proud of them now.”

It appeared Northwest’s first conference win was going to come Saturday. The Bearcats held a six-point lead at halftime.

With 12:52 left in the game, the Bearcats still had a six-point lead when Schechinger drained her third three-pointer of the game, making it 49-43.

“You have Tember Schechinger who is battling an ankle injury and didn’t even practice yesterday,” Smith said. “She came off the bench and gave us 20 points.”

A minute after her three-pointer, Schechinger made another basket, which made it 51-45 and a minute after that, senior Ariel Easton made a bucket, keeping the Bearcats in front by six at 53-47.

“What I am excited about is Ariel Easton was back tonight because I don’t think she understands what she means to her teammates,” Smith said. “It showed tonight, feeding off her energy. I am proud of her effort.”

After Easton’s basket, the game slipped away from Northwest. Washburn grabbed a 54-53 lead on a three-pointer by Washburn senior Casyn Buchman.

Northwest took its last lead at 55-54 on a basket by freshman Tanya Meyer.

But Buchman struck again with another three-pointer, putting Washburn back in front 57-54. The Ichabods never trailed again. Buchman scored 18 of her 24 points in the second half.

Washburn slowly pulled away from Northwest, but the final score was not indicative of the way the Bearcats played most of the game.

“I am proud of my teammates as well,” said Easton, who finished with 17 points. “As far as me individually, it has been a struggle. I felt tonight, I did the little things like diving on the floor and giving my teammates energy as much as I could. It was fun tonight.”

In the first half, Northwest played its best half of the season and went into halftime ahead 34-28.

Throughout the first half, the Bearcats played with confidence and energy. And most important, they valued the basketball. There were very few unforced turnovers.

The point where Northwest showed it was in a different mode came when it trailed 14-8. In the past, the deficit would have ballooned to 10 or 15 points by halftime.

Instead, the Bearcats put together a great stretch of offensive basketball. It started with a basket by Schechinger followed by field goal by Shelby Mustain.

Morgan Walker made a basket to tie the game at 14-14 and a three-pointer by Schechinger gave Northwest its first lead at 17-14 with 8:28 remaining in the first half.

The best part was the Bearcats weren’t done. In all, it was a 15-1 run that gave Northwest a 23-15 lead.

“It was really nice seeing that,” Schechinger said. “Everybody played well. You didn’t notice when we subbed. This game was such a different pace for everyone. I am so pleased with everyone who came in to play today. I felt I could trust my teammates.”

Perhaps the biggest moment for Northwest came immediately after Washburn made a three-point play and closed to 25-20. Schechinger answered with her second three-pointer of the half.

It was just about a perfect half for Northwest. The Bearcats shot 54 percent from the field and committed only six turnovers while holding Washburn to 33 percent shooting.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —