Dave Riggert – Page 951 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Griffon women win Central Missouri Invite; Bird finishes second

Posted on March 12, 2013

The Missouri Western women’s golf team out shot day one leader Northwest Missouri State by three strokes in the final 18 holes claiming a one stroke victory at the Central Missouri Invitational. The Griffons shot a two round total of 736 (368-368) while Northwest Missouri State finished with a 737 (366-371).

Fort Hays State and Central Missouri finished in third and four with 778 and 790 respectively while Southwest Baptist finished with a 935.

Senior Natalie Bird finished in second place firing a two round total of 172 (82-90) while Callie Wilson finished in third with a 181 (91-90). Anna Kloeppel and Darcy Smith finished in a tie for 4th and 10th respectively firing 186 and 193. Amber Chivington, Casi Webb and Shelby Stone finished firing 198, 200 and 202 respectively.

The winner of the event was Steph Charteris shooting a two day total of 166 (89-77).

The Griffons return to action on Sunday, March 24 and Monday, March 25 when they host the MWSU Candlewood Suites Classic. The event will take place at the St. Joseph Country Club.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western baseball sweeps MIAA weekly honors

Posted on March 12, 2013

Missouri Western swept the MIAA Baseball Athlete of the Week awards as Bubba Dotson was named the hitter and Ethan Ward the pitcher for week number six.

MIAA Hitter of the Week
Bubba Dotson, OF, Missouri Western

Dotson has been on a roll as of late getting a hit in each of his last eight games. In the past week he helped the Griffons go 5-0 hitting .706 with 12 hits in 17 at bats. Dotson scored six runs, had four doubles and eight RBI. He also had a slugging percentage of .941 and an on base percentage of .783 for week. He walked six times and struck out just twice while adding one sacrifice and going 2-for-2 in stolen bases. On the season he is hitting .500 (20-40) with 13 runs scored and 11 RBI. The 5-11 senior outfielder is a native of Kansas City, Mo. where he played at Oak Park High School prior to playing at both Neosho County Community College and Maple Woods.

MIAA Pitcher of the Week
Ethan Ward, P, Missouri Western

Ward picked up his first victory of the season pitching a masterful game in a 11-1 victory over Nebraska-Kearney. Ward went five innings giving up just two hits while striking out five. He only allowed his opponents to hit .118 off him on the day as he retired the final four batters he faced and did not allow a baserunner past first base in his entire appearance. The 5-10 senior pitcher is a native of Olathe, Kan. where he attended Olathe East High School prior to pitching for Highland Community College.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Mizzou’s Pressey, Bowers earns All-SEC honors

Posted on March 12, 2013March 12, 2013

Missouri’s Phil Pressey and Laurence Bowers were named to the All-Southeastern Conference Team by the league coaches on Tuesday, with Pressey earning First Team accolades and Bowers being voted to the Second Team despite missing five of the first six league games due to injury.

Pressey leads the Southeastern Conference in assists this season and is on the cusp of breaking his own school record for single season dimes. Pressey is averaging a league-best 7.1 assists per game (No. 7 nationally) and has 221 dimes, needing just three more to surpass his 2011-12 total of 223.

Pressey’s 221 assists are already ninth in Southeastern Conference history and he is 39 assists shy of the all-time mark held by Sean Tuohy of Ole Miss in 1979-80. Tuohy is of course also well-known from to the Movie “The Blind Side” released in 2009. The junior is also just 14 assists short of the single-season top five in SEC history and Pressey has the most assists for an SEC player since John Wall dished 241 in 2009-10.

The Dallas native is also scoring and rebounding at a career rate this season. Pressey is third on the club with 11.9 points per game and his 3.4 rebounds per contest better the 3.3 he averaged last season.

He is already the career record holder for assists at Missouri with 561 and needs just five steals to surpass the career mark of 196 held by Anthony Peeler.

Pressey has topped 20 points in a game five times this season, including a 27-point, 10-assist double-double at Kentucky. He also turned in one of the nation’s more spectacular games at UCLA (Dec. 28) where he broke the school and Pauley Pavilion records with 19 points and 19 assists vs. the Bruins. The 19-points and 19 assists were the most by a high major college player since Mateen Cleaves (Michigan State) dished 20 in 2000 and it was the first 19 and 19 game since John Stockton with the Utah Jazz of the NBA in the 1990-91 season.

Bowers has earned a pair of awards from the league office over the past two days. In addition to being named a Second Team all-league performer, the Memphis, Tenn., native was named to the SEC Community Service Team for his efforts in the Columbia community and continues to be a shining example of the all-around student-athlete experience at Mizzou as he nears the completion of his Master’s degree this spring.

On the hardwood Bowers has definitely made up for lost time, finishing with three consecutive 20-point efforts in games against LSU, Arkansas and Tennessee. The forward leads the Tigers with seven 20-point games this season and is second with a career high seven double-doubles. He had back-to-back double-doubles down the stretch vs. LSU and Arkansas and he finished his home career with 24 points and 11 rebounds in a resounding 93-63 Senior Night win over Arkansas on March 5.

Bowers leads the SEC in field goal percentage (.558) and ranks seventh in scoring (14.8), No. 13 in rebounding (6.3) and is just outside the Top 10 in blocked shots.

Earlier this season Bowers scored his 1,000th career point in a win against South Carolina State and was named the National Player of the Week after a 23-point, 10-rebound performance in a Bud Light Braggin’ Rights win over No. 10 Illinois in St. Louis.

Bowers is currently 27th all-time at Mizzou in scoring with 1,222 points and joins Arthur Johnson as the lone Tigers ever to score 1,000 points and block 150 shots.

Missouri Basketball opens play at the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Thursday night against the winner of the Texas A&M vs. Auburn contest. The Tigers will play at 9 p.m. CT on the SEC Network

First Team All-SEC

Trevor Releford, Alabama – G, 6-1, 195, Jr., Kansas City, Mo.

Erik Murphy, Florida – F/C, 6-10, 238, Sr., South Kingstown, R.I.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia – G, 6-5, 205, So., Greenville, Ga.

Nerlens Noel, Kentucky – F, 6-10, 228, Fr., Everett, Mass.

Johnny O’Bryant III, LSU – F, 6-9, 256, So., Cleveland, Miss.

Phil Pressey, Missouri – G, 5-11, 175, Jr., Dallas, Texas

Jordan McRae, Tennessee – G, 6-5, 178, Jr., Midway, Ga.

Elston Turner, Texas A&M – G, 6-5, 209, Sr., Sacramento, Calif.

Second Team All-SEC

Marshawn Powell, Arkansas – F, 6-7, 240, Jr., Newport News, Va.

BJ Young, Arkansas – G, 6-3, 180, So, St. Louis, Mo.

Kenny Boynton, Florida – G, 6-2, 190, Sr., Pompano Beach, Fla.

^Mike Rosario, Florida – G, 6-3, 183, Sr., Jersey City, N.J.

^Patric Young, Florida – C, 6-9, 249, Jr., Jacksonville, Fla.

Marshall Henderson, Ole Miss – G, 6-2, 175, Jr., Hurst, Texas

Murphy Holloway, Ole Miss – F, 6-7, 240, Sr., Irmo, S.C.

Laurence Bowers, Missouri – F, 6-8, 227, Sr., Memphis, Tenn.

Jarnell Stokes, Tennessee – F, 6-8, 270, So., Memphis, Tenn.

SEC All-Freshman Team

Michael Frazier II, Florida – G, 6-4, 200, Fr., Tampa, Fla.

Charles Mann, Georgia – G, 6-4, 205, Fr., Alpharetta, Ga.

^Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky – F, 7-0, 244, Fr., Olathe, Kan.

Archie Goodwin, Kentucky – G, 6-4.5, 198, Fr., Little Rock, Ark.

Nerlens Noel, Kentucky – F, 6-10, 228, Fr., Everett, Mass.

^Alex Poythress, Kentucky – F, 6-7, 239, Fr., Clarksville, Tenn.

Craig Sword, Mississippi State – G, 6-3, 189, Fr., Montgomery, Ala.

^Gavin Ware, Mississippi State – F, 6-9, 270, Fr., Starkville, Miss.

Michael Carrera, South Carolina – F, 6-5, 212, Fr., Anzoátegui, Venezuela

SEC All-Defensive Team

^Trevor Releford, Alabama – G, 6-1, 185, Jr., Kansas City, Mo.

Scottie Wilbekin, Florida – G, 6-2, 176, Jr., Gainesville, Fla.

^Patric Young, Florida – C, 6-9, 249, Jr., Jacksonville, Fla.

Nerlens Noel, Kentucky – F, 6-10, 228, Fr., Everett, Mass.

Anthony Hickey, LSU – G, 5-11, 178, So., Hopkinsville, Ky.

Reginald Buckner, Ole Miss – F, 6-9, 235, Sr., Memphis, Tenn.

^-Ties are not broken

SEC Coach of the Year: Billy Donovan, Florida

SEC Player of the Year: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia

SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Patric Young, Florida

SEC Freshman of the Year: Nerlens Noel, Kentucky

SEC Sixth-Man of the Year: Kyle Wiltjer, Kentucky

SEC Defensive Player of the Year: Nerlens Noel, Kentucky

— MU Sports Information —

MWSU men’s golf team finishes 10th at Arkansas Tech

Posted on March 12, 2013March 12, 2013

The Missouri Western men’s golf team finishing in 10th place firing a two day total of 632 (319-313) at the Dave Falconer Memorial Invitational hosted by Arkansas Tech.

The winner of the event was Midwestern State University with a 594 (303-291) eight strokes ahead of second place finisher Henderson State University, 602 (304-298).

Individually the Griffons were led by James O’Brien with a 154 (79-75) placing him in a tie for 17th. Wes Apple finished in a tied for 34th with a 158 (82-76) while Evan McCarthy, Tyler Gast and Scott Sheldon finished with 163, 165 and 170 respectively. Kenny Stone and Derek Hawkins played as individuals finishing with 164 and 176 respectively.

The winner of the event was Wouter MyBurgh of Southwestern Oklahoma State finishing with a two day total of 144 (74-70).

The Griffons will return to action on Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March 24 when they participate in the University of Sioux Falls Spring Invite. The event will be played at Elmwood Golf Course.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Northwest’s Charteris wins individual title at UCM Invite

Posted on March 12, 2013March 12, 2013

Steph Charteris claimed her fourth tournament victory Tuesday to win the Central Missouri Early Bird Invitational at Pointe Royale Golf Course as the Northwest Missouri State women’s golf team finished second.

Charteris was not only the lone individual to shoot below 80, but also the only golfer on the course to score a 90 or better during Tuesday’s final round with a 77 (166). The sophomore held off Missouri Western’s Natalie Bird and Callie Wilson, who finished six strokes behind Charteris, with a 172 while Wilson finished with a 181.

The pair from Missouri Western helped the Griffons overtake Northwest in the team scoring to claim the team title by one stroke. The Griffons finished 736 while the Bearcats fired a score of 737. Fort Hays State checked in at third with a 778 as Central Missouri finished fourth and Southwest Baptist finished fifth.

Kristina D’Angela earned a top five finish with back-to-back rounds of 93 in the less than ideal conditions Tuesday. D’Angela carded a two-day score of 186 and was followed in the top 10 by Taylor Gard with a 191 (96, 95).

The final scorer for the Bearcats was Ashley Power with a two-day score of 214, while Cassie Lowell withdrew from competition after a first round 88.

Northwest takes a week off before returning to action at the Missouri Western Invitational March 24 and 25 from the St. Joseph Country Club.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Griffon women two shots back of Northwest at Central Missouri Invite

Posted on March 11, 2013

The Missouri Western women’s golf team sits just two strokes behind rival Northwest Missouri State at the Central Missouri Early Bird Invitational at Pointe Royale Golf Course after Monday’s first round.

In the first tournament action of the spring season for most teams in the Midwest, the Griffons got a solid team performance in round one. Senior Natalie Bird leads the event by six strokes firing an 82.

As a team the Griffons shot a 368 while NWMSU fired a 366. Fort Hays Stat enters Tuesday’s final day in third firing a 395, while the MIAA’s newest women’s golf program, Central Missouri, finished with a 397.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Western men’s golf team sits in 8th after Day One at Arkansas Tech

Posted on March 11, 2013

The Missouri Western men’s golf team sits in a tie for 8th firing a day one 319 at the Dave Falconer Memorial Invitational hosted by Arkansas Tech. The Griffons sit in a tie with Southeastern Oklahoma State.

Midwestern State University leads the way with a 303 and is one stroke ahead of Henderson State. MWSU is four strokes ahead of Lincoln University and five strokes back of Southwestern Oklahoma State.

Individually, Evan McCarthy leads the way for MWSU shooting a 77 (39-38) putting him in a tie for 20th. James O’Brien and Tyler Gast fired 79 and 81 respectively while Wes Apple and Scott Sheldon fired 82 and 92.

Henderson State’s Jared Black and Southern Nazarene’s Blake Jackson are in a tie for the lead shooting 72.

The final round of the tournament is Tuesday.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Northwest loses MIAA title game to Central Missouri in OT

Posted on March 10, 2013

Forty minutes of basketball was not enough to decide a winner Sunday, as Northwest Missouri State and Central Missouri battled into overtime before the Mules claimed a 79-76 win in the MIAA Tournament Championship.

The loss drops the Bearcats to 21-10 on the season and Northwest must now wait to see if reaching the MIAA Championship game was enough to earn a second straight trip to the NCAA tournament.

Central Missouri earns the league’s automatic bid as the Mules improved to 22-7 overall.

Bryston Williams did all he could to help ensure a Bearcat win. With seven seconds left in regulation, the junior took a missed UCM free throw the length of the floor and tied the game on a layup.

Williams continued his surge in the extra period finishing with a career-high 27 points and nine rebounds.

Northwest jumped out to a 70-67 lead before the Mules’ Dominique Long hit a jumper with 1:57 left to give UCM its first lead. Long finished with 16 points and was 4-for-5 from the free-throw line.

Both teams struggled at the free-throw line, but after dominating the boards the Bearcats were not able to pull in the final rebound.

A UCM foul sent Matt Wallace to the line with four seconds left in overtime and the Bearcats trailing 78-75. Wallace, who was fouled on a three-pointer, missed the second and intentionally missed the third.

However, Zach Bush pulled down the rebound for the Mules sealing the 78-76 victory. Northwest finished the game pulling in 48 rebounds compared to the Mules 32.

Playing two men down, DeAngelo Hailey and Conner Crooker, the Bearcats found themselves also without its top two scorers midway through the extra period. Dillon Starzl fouled out with seven seconds left in regulation and Williams committed his fifth foul in overtime.

Starzl was forced to sit most of the first half in foul trouble, but helped Northwest jump out to a 7-0 lead to start the game. Starzl finished with 13 points and six rebounds and was named to the all-Tournament Team.

Both teams entered halftime tied at 33-33, but the Bearcats ended with 20 turnovers.

Widgett Washington finished with 20 points and four steals to lead the Mules. The win was also the ninth straight for UCM over the Bearcats and gives them their sixth MIAA Tournament Championship.

Northwest and the MIAA entered the Central Region this year with the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and the Great American Conference. The Bearcats did not appear in either of the final two regional polls during the regular season and despite wins over Northeastern State and Fort Hays State could get left out of the tournament.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

KU’s Withey, McLemore earn All-Big 12 First Team honors

Posted on March 10, 2013March 10, 2013

Kansas seniors Jeff Withey, Travis Releford and Elijah Johnson and redshirt freshman Ben McLemore highlight KU’s selections to the 2013 All-Big 12 Men’s Basketball awards announced Sunday. The all-conference awards were voted on by the league’s head coaches who were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.

For the second straight season, Withey is the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He was joined on the 2013 All-Big 12 First Team by McLemore. Releford was a second-team all-conference selection, while Johnson earned honorable mention all-league. Withey and Releford were named to the six-person Big 12 All-Defensive Team, while McLemore was selected to the six-person Big 12 All-Rookie Team. There were ties in the coaches’ votes for the defensive and rookie teams, hence six players listed.

“I’m happy for all of them” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “We knew Ben and Jeff would be on the first team but I feel sometimes when you have guys on the first team it could split the vote for player of the year. Marcus Smart is a very deserving player of the year in leading Oklahoma State to a good finish in the league and an NCAA Tournament bid. Any of those four – Ben, Jeff, (Kansas State’s Rodney) McGruder and Smart – could have been player of the year.”

“Travis and Jeff both deserve to be on the All-Defensive team and it’s great for Jeff being named the defensive player of the year for the second straight season,” Self said. “I’m glad Elijah is honorable mention. I am so pleased for Travis to make second team. He’s put so much time into this program. He’s the rock nobody talks about.”

Withey becomes the second Jayhawk to earn Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in consecutive seasons, joining former KU center Cole Aldrich who was named for the honor in 2009 and 2010. Withey has 124 blocked shots, a total that ranks fourth on the single-season Big 12 chart after he set the record of 140 in 2011-12. He is the Kansas and Big 12 career blocked shots leader at 289.

“This is a big honor to be named the defensive player of the year for two straight years in such a tough conference,” Withey said. “These are prestigious honors from the coaches and to have my other teammates listed throughout those awards shows how much of a team we have been (this season).”

McLemore has nine games of 20 or more points in 2012-13, including three 30-point efforts against Big 12 competition. Releford and Johnson are appearing on All-Big 12 squads for the first time in their careers. A lockdown defender, Releford leads KU with 37 steals this season, while Johnson has a team-high 149 assists in 2012-13.

“I’m happy for all those guys,” Self said. “They are all very deserving. Individual awards are terrific but I know our guys are focused on team achievements, which mean much more.”

Kansas, which tied Kansas State in winning its ninth-straight, 13th Big 12 and NCAA-leading 56th overall regular-season conference championship in 2013, placed two student-athletes on the All-Big 12 First Team for the second straight year and the sixth time in the last seven seasons. The Jayhawks have had two first teamers nine times in the 17-year history of the Big 12, which began in 1996-97.

No. 4/3 Kansas (26-5, 14-4) will enter the 2013 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship as the No. 1 seed and will play in the quarterfinals of the event on Thursday, March 14, at 2 p.m. (Central). The Jayhawks will face the winner of the No. 8 West Virginia versus No. 9 Texas Tech game to be played Wednesday, March 13, at 6 p.m. The event will be held at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

— KU Sports Information —

Weber, three Wildcats honored by Big 12 coaches

Posted on March 10, 2013March 10, 2013

Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber earned Big 12 Coach of the Year honors, while Rodney McGruder, Angel Rodriguez and Shane Southwell were named to the Coaches’ All-Conference team, as the league office announced its annual men’s basketball awards on Sunday.

McGruder was named to the five-man All-Big 12 First Team and Rodriguez to the five-man All-Big 12 Second Team, while Southwell was one of nine players to earn honorable mention. It marked the first time in 14 years that Kansas State had three players on the all-conference team with four players earning honorable mention in 1999. Overall, only one other time (1951) was there three Wildcats on an all-conference squad.

Weber is the sixth K-State head coach to earn conference Coach of the Year honors and the second in the Big 12 era, following Tex Winter (1958, 1959, 1960), Cotton Fitzsimmons (1970), Jack Hartman (1975, 1977), Dana Altman (1993) and Frank Martin (2010). He also collects league Coach of the Year accolades for the third time in his career in his third different league after winning the honor in the Missouri Valley in 2002-03 and the Big Ten in 2004-05. With Weber’s coaching honor, K-State becomes just the second Big 12 school to have its football and men’s basketball coaches earn league Coach of the Year honors in the same season.

A native of Washington, D.C., McGruder became just the third men’s basketball player to earn All-Big 12 First Team honors since the inception of the league, joining Michael Beasley (2008) and Jacob Pullen (2010, 2011). The leader in six categories, including scoring (15.1 ppg.), double-digit scoring games (25), 20-point games (nine), field goals (174) and minutes (32.9), McGruder also earned first team accolades from the Kansas City Star and ESPN.com. Overall, he earned all-conference accolades for the third time in his career after being named to the second team as a junior (2012) and third team as a sophomore (2011). He is averaging 15.1 points on 43.9 percent shooting, including 32.3 percent from 3-point range, to go with 5.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.3 steals in 32.9 minutes per game. He ranks among the Big 12’s Top 20 in scoring, field goal percentage, steals and minutes played.

Rodriguez, who ranks among the Big 12’s Top 5 in assists, steals and assist-to-turnover ratio, was named to the league’s second team for the first time in his career. The San Juan, Puerto Rico native, he is averaging 11.5 points on 37.1 percent shooting, including 33.6 percent from 3-point range, to go with 5.5 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 27.6 minutes per game. He ranks second in the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio, third in assists and free throw percentage and fifth in steals. He paces the Wildcats in 3-point field goals (46), free throws (81), assists (159), steals (43), while he is second in scoring, double-digit scoring games (20) and field goals (103). His 159 assists are the third-most in a single-season, trailing Steve Henson (186, 1987-88) and Jim Roder (163, 1983-84), while his 5.48 assists per game average is second only to Roder’s 5.62 average.

A Bronx, N.Y., native, Southwell earned all-conference honors for the first time in his career, as the junior was named honorable mention. The Wildcats’ best 3-point shooter is averaging 8.3 points on 45.5 percent shooting, including 44.3 percent from beyond the arc, to go with 3.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.0 steals in 24.8 minutes per game. He ranks second on the team in 3-point field goals (43), third in scoring, assists and steals and fourth in field goals and minutes played. He has registered double-digit scoring nine times this season, including a career-best 19 points against No. 3/2 Kansas on Jan. 22.

The 9/10 Wildcats ended the regular season with a 25-6 overall record and a 14-4 mark in Big 12 play, which includes a tie for its first conference title in 36 seasons and a No. 2 seed in this week’s Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at the Sprint Center. The 25 wins are the most-ever in the regular season and just the school’s fifth 25-win season, while the 14 conference wins tie the 1958-59 team for the most in school history. Overall, it is the 18th conference regular season title in school history and the first since 1976-77 season.

K-State begins play at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Thursday when the Wildcats play the winner of Wednesday’s first round contest between No. 7 seed Texas (15-16) and No. 10 seed TCU (11-20) at 6 p.m. at the Sprint Center.

— KSU Sports Information —