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MWSU’s baseball opener at Arkansas Tech moved up to Friday

riggertMissouriWesternThe Missouri Western baseball team was schedule to begin its 2015 season on Sunday, but the weather has forced their series at No. 17 Arkansas Tech to be moved up a couple days.

The Griffons and Wonder Boys will begin their four-game series with a doubleheader on Friday at 1:00 PM, before finishing the series with a doubleheader on Saturday at Noon.

Missouri Western is coming off a 32-20, 24-14 finish in 2014 that saw the team finish fourth in the MIAA and advance to the championship series of the MIAA Postseason Tournament.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western’s Jordan named D2Football.com First-Team All-American

MWSUA few days after being recognized as an All-American by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Missouri Western junior Michael Jordan finds himself on another All-American football team.

The cornerback from St. Louis has been named a first team All-American by D2football.com. It’s the third All-American honor for Jordan, who wrapped up his junior year with an MIAA-high four interceptions and 16 passes defended.

Jordan was also a first team American Football Coaches Association All-American and third team Associated Press Litte All-American.

He was also a first team All-MIAA pick for the second straight year, and was a second team choice on both the Don Hansen FB Gazette All-Super Region Three and Daktronics All-Super Region Three teams.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Griffons allow 27-2 second half run and lose to Missouri Southern

MWSUST. JOSEPH, Mo. – A run by Missouri Southern to begin the second half left the Griffon Men in a hole they couldn’t dig out of on the way to a 77-65 loss to Missouri Southern.

Leading 41-35 coming into the second half, MWSU was outscored 27-2 over the first six and a half minutes of the second half. Missouri Southern opened the half on a 17-0 run to build an 11-point lead. The Griffons would never get closer than that through the remainder of the half.

Missouri Southern shot 44 percent from the field for the game while the Griffons ended the game shooting 41 percent. MWSU shot just 23 percent from three-point range and 70 percent at the free throw line. Missouri Western won the rebounding battle, 36-35 but were hurt by 13 turnovers and 10 missed three-point tries.

Cortrez Colbert finished with 18 points and four rebounds while Currie Byrd scored 10 with four boards. Kevin Thomas finished with nine points and nine rebounds.

The loss dropped MWSU to 8-9 on the season and 4-6 in MIAA play. They hit the road next week with a trip to Lincoln on Thursday and Lindenwood on Saturday.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western women even record with home win over Southern

MWSUThe Missouri Western women’s basketball team picked up their second straight home win with a 61-56 victory over Missouri Southern Saturday afternoon. The win moved the team to 8-8 overall and 3-7 in the MIAA, while dropping Missouri Southern to 12-5 and 6-4.

LaQuinta Jefferson led the way for Missouri Western with 17 points on 5-11 shooting from the field. Chelsea Dewey added 11 for the Griffons and Tiara Hall had 10 points. Jefferson added five rebounds with Miliakere Koyamainavure and Alex Saxen each adding seven rebounds.

MWSU shot 44 percent from the field, 10 percent from three-point range and 62 percent at the free throw line. They held Missouri Southern to 33 percent from the field and six percent from long range.

FIRST HALF
The Griffons jumped out to a 12-4 lead that quickly faded as Missouri Southern tied the game at 18 with 5:50 left in the half. Two straight layups by the Griffons put them back up by five but Missouri Southern scored the last five points of the game to send the temas to halftime knotted at 26. Missouri Western missed all six of their three-point attempts in the first half and shot 35 percent from the field.

SECOND HALF
Missouri Southern jumped out to a four-point lead that the Griffons couldn’t erase until a Chelseas Dewey layup with 16:02 to go gave the Griffons a one-point lead. The two teams traded leads over the next eight minutes with MWSU finally capturing a five-point lead with 7:56 to go on a Dewey three-pointer. Missouri Southern never got closer than a 56-56 tie with 2:01 left. Missouri Western led the rest of the way.

The Griffons hit the road next week, playing at Lincoln on Thursday and Lindenwood on Saturday.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Griffons rally from 18-point deficit to win at Southwest Baptist

MWSUBOLIVAR, Mo. – Aaron Emmanuel’s layup with six seconds remaining was the exclamation point on an impressive second half comeback that gave the Missouri Western men’s basketball team a 65-64 win at Southwest Baptist. The bucket gave the Griffons their first lead of the game and wiped out a Southwest Baptist lead that had grown to as many as 18 points.

Emmanuel’s layup came on the heels of an unconventional Southwest Baptist turnover with 14 seconds remaining. Coming out of a timeout, Southwest Baptist was set to inbound the ball near the Griffon bench but the ball went off of Griffon head coach Brett Weiberg while he was in his coaching box, giving Missouri Western possession of the ball with 11 seconds left.

With 19:02 left in the game, SBU had built an 18-point lead. Over the next 10 minutes, the Griffons used a 25-9 run to pull within two. After some back and forth between the two that never saw the SBU lead stretch farther than seven over the final nine minutes, a Cole Clearman three with 1:11 left pulled the Griffons within one and setup Emmanuel’s layup.

Cortrez Colbert and Kevin Thomas each scored 11 for the Griffons with Dareon Jones adding 10. Defensively, the Griffons held SBU to just eight field goals in the second half on 20 attempts. The win improved Missouri Western to 8-8 overall and 4-5 in the MIAA. The win also gave the Griffons their first win in Bolivar since 2003, snapping a nine-game losing streak. They’ll have a week off before hosting Missouri Southern on Jan. 24.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western women continue road woes with loss at SBU

MWSUBOLIVAR, Mo. – A Kyrsten Crawford three-point attempt bounced off the back of the rim, up and off the front of the rim as time expired in a 65-62 loss at Southwest Baptist for the Missouri Western women’s basketball team. It was the team’s fifth loss of seven points or less and dropped the team to 7-8 overall and 2-7 in the MIAA.  MWSU has now lost 15 consecutive games.

Once again the Griffons had their chances, tying the game twice in the final 2:30 after trailing for the entire game. Two free throws from Alex Saxen with 16 seconds left brought MWSU with in one at 63-62 but two free throws on the other end from Megan Rosenbohm pushed the SBU lead to three with five seconds to go. Crawford’s open three looked too strong but hit the back of the rim as the buzzer sounded then bounced up and almost fell through with zeros on the clock.

Southwest Baptist took advantage of 84 percent free throw shooting to stay ahead of the Griffons. SBU was a perfect 10-10 in the first half, including six straight to open the game with a 6-0 lead. The Griffons were led by LaQuinta Jefferson’s 17 points, followed by 16 from Miliakere Koyamainavure, whose eight rebounds also led the team.

Missouri Western shot 43 percent to 37.5 for Southwest Baptist and won the rebound battle 35-27. Sixteen total turnovers, including 12 in the first half hurt the Griffons, along with going just 2-12 (16.7%) from three-point range.

The team is off until Saturday when the Griffons host Missouri Southern at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Griffons come up short against No. 25 Central Missouri, 64-58

MWSUST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western Men’s Basketball team made it a game with the defending national champs, but eventually came up short, dropping the final game of a three-game home stand, 64-58, to No. 25 Central Missouri.

Trailing by two at the half, Central Missouri opened the second half on a 6-0 run and MWSU was never able to pull within one of the Mules. A Cortrez Colbert jumper pulled the Griffons within striking distance, 41-40, with 8:44 to go but the Mules scored the next nine and never looked back.

The Griffons finished the game 49 percent from the field but were held to 22 percent from three-point range on 4-18 shooting. Central Missouri won the rebound battle by 10 and had seven assists to mtch their seven steals.

Colbert finished with a game-high 20 points followed by a season-high, 15 points, from Aaron Emmanuel. Missouri Western dropped to 7-8 with the loss and 3-5 in MIAA play. The men hit the road this weekend for a game at Southwest Baptist on Saturday before returning home to face Missouri Southern on Jan. 24.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Western women defeat Central Missouri to snap five-game skid

MWSUST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western women’s basketball team snapped a five-game losing streak with an impressive, 77-69 win over Central Missouri, the team’s first win over Central Missouri since Jan. 16, 2008 (13 games).The Jennies were fresh off upsetting No. 1 Emporia State but were held to 31 percent shooting from the field in the second half as the Griffons made 10-20 field goals in the second frame to take the game.

In a tale of two halves, Missouri Western tied the game on a Mariah Jordan layup less than two minutes into the second half and never trailed again after falling behind by as many as 15 in the first half. MWSU built the lead to 10 with 9:43 to go after a Sarafina Handy three-pointer. The lead expanded to 13 after a jumper from Handy with 3:19 left. Central Missouri was able to cut the lead to six with 1:13 to play but free throws from Chelsea Dewey and Miliakere Koyamainavure iced the victory.

Central Missouri grabbed a 15-point lead nine minutes into the game. Missouri Western used a 22-6 run to take it a one-point lead with 5:17 to go until halftime on a free-throw by LaQuinta Jefferson. Central Missouri outscored MWSU 11-10 over the final five minutes of the half to take a 44-42 lead into halftime.

Central Missouri Shot 61.5 percent from the field in the first half but were limited to 9-29 for 31 percent in the second frame. The Griffons were also able to lock down the perimeter in the second half, allowing just one of 11 UCM threes.

LaQuinta Jefferson and Sarafina Handy led the Griffons with 20 points each and Chelsea Dewey chipped in 14. Handy’s 20 point performance was a season-high for the junior guard. The Griffons shot 49 percent from the field, 53 percent from behind the arc and 70 percent at the free throw line. They held the Jennies to 45 percent from the field, 22 percent from three and 58 percent at the line.

The win moved Missouri Western to 7-7 on the season and 2-6 in MIAA play. Saturday, the team travels to Bolivar, Missouri to take on Southwest Baptist (5-9, 1-6).

— MWSU Sports Information —

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

MWSUST. 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

MWSUAn 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 —

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