For the first time this season the Missouri Western women’s basketball team came up on the short end in a 71-60 loss against the 16th ranked Drury Panthers in the Doubletree/Houlihans Thanksgiving Classic. The big difference in the game was that the Griffons made just 11-of-28 free throws to the Panthers 37-of-56. The Griffons fall to 4-1 with the loss and will take on the Missouri S&T Miners tomorrow (Nov. 30) at 7:45 pm.

Western led just once in the game which was at 4-1 after an Ariana Novak laypu with 16:06 to play in the game. The Panthers took the lead at the 14:18 mark when Sanayika Shields hit a jumper with 14:18 to play in the first frame. The game was close until the 9:04 mark when the Panthers closed the half on a 22-10 run expanding its lead to 14 at 41-27 at the half.

The Griffons did have 18 points in the paint at the half but 19 first half fouls helped the Panthers make 21-of-30 free throws. The Griffons shot just 10-of-32 from the field and 7-of-16 from the free throw line. Denise White had eight points while Tiara Hall had six rebounds.

The Panthers were led by Bethanie Funderburk and Shields with 10 points apiece while Kylie Williamson had seven rebounds.

Missouri Western was able to cut the lead to six at the 10:08 mark of the second half on a JaQuitta Dever layup making the score 51-45. From there the Panthers outscored the Griffons by five to pick up the 11 point victory. Drury improves to 5-0 with the victory.

The Griffons dominated the points in the paint outscoring the Panthers 42-20 but gave up 19 second chance points on 16 DU offensive rebounds. Western shot just 36.4-percent (24-66) from the field and 9.1-percent (1-11) from long range. Ten Griffons scored with White leading the way with 10. Hall finished with nine points and 12 rebounds.

Drury also struggled shooting making just 16-of-48 (33.3%) form the field and 18.2-percent (2-11) from long range. The Panthers had three players score in double figures with Funderburk finishing with 21 points making 9-of-11 free throws. Williamson had a game high 13 rebounds.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western men’s basketball team picked up a big regional victory over the Upper Iowa Peacocks by a score of 84-79 on Monday evening in the fieldhouse.

The Griffons made 15-of-17 second half free throws and got a double-double from Cedric Clinkscales improving to 4-3 on the season. Clinkscales finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds. It was his seventh double-double of his career and first this season. His 14 rebounds was also a career high.

Western shot a sizzling 55.9-percent (19-34) from the field scoring 26 points in the paint on their way to a 42-39 halftime lead over visiting Upper Iowa. Cedric Clinkscales dumped in 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting and had a game high seven rebounds.

The Griffons never trailed in the opening half leading by as many as 10 points at 30-20 with 7:15 to play after a jumper by Kalvin Balque. Balque ha dseven points on 3-of-4 shooting off the bench. Dareon Jones also had a nice half for Missouri Western scoring nine pionts on 4-of-6 shooting.

The Peacocks closed the half on a 19-12 run cutting the lead to three at the half. They shot 41.4-percent (12-29) from the field and made 11-of-16 free throws. Back-to-back three’s by Josh Weeber helped the Peacocks down the stetch as he finished the half with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting. He also led the Peacocks with five rebounds.

Western opened the second half on a 20-12 run opening up an 11 point lead at 62-51 after two free throws by Ryan Devers with 13:33 to play. The Peacocks stayed calm and took a their first lead of the game on a Weeber three with 5:56 to play at 67-66.

The Griffons stayed poised hitting big free throws down the stretch and getting a dunk by Balque with 27 seconds to play sealing the victory.

Missouri Western finished shooting 54.2-percent (32-59) from the field and 72.7-percent (16-22) from the free throw line. The Griffons had five players in double figures with Devers, Cortrez Colbert, Dareon Jones and Balque finishing with 16, 15, 14 and 11. MWSU also had 17 assists with four players getting at least three. Devers finished with six. Clinkscales also finished with a career best four blocks.

The Peacocks had three players in double figures with Grant lang finishing with 20 points off the bench. Weeber and Joey Woods each had 15 while Weeber and Jimmy Roth had six rebounds apiece. Western held Upper Iowa to 42.9-percent (27-63) shooting from the floor. UIU falls to 2-4 with the loss.

Missouri Western returns to action on Saturday, November 30 when they take on the the University of St. Mary’s (Kan.). Game time is set for 7:00 pm from the fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western men’s basketball team gave up a 26-12 run midway through the second half to Illinois-Springfield which gave them their second straight loss this time by a score of 88-73. The Griffons turned the ball over a season high 17 times and made just 24-of-68 shots on the evening. Ryan Devers and Cortrez Colbert finished with 17 and 16 points respectively while Cedric Clinkscales had 11 rebounds. The Griffons fall to 3-3 on the season.

The Griffons took their first lead of the game at the 14:35 mark of the first half after a layup by Dareon Jones at 10-9. The Griffons last lead of the game came shortly after when Adarius Fulton hit a three giving MWSU a 15-13. The rest of the half belonged the Prairiestars as they outscored the Griffons by eight the rest of the half taking a 38-32 lead into the half.

The second half was close until midway through the half when UIS went on their big run. The Prairiestars finished the night hitting 50-percent (32-64) of their shots and 53.3-percent (8-15) of their long range shots. They had six players in double figures with Regan Bruenger finished with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Jacob Williams had a double-double scoring 14 points and snaring 12 rebounds.

UIS dominated the points in the paint outscoring the Griffons 38-18 and had 18 points off turnovers to the Griffons 11. They improve to 2-2 on the season.

Dzenan Mrkaljevic finished with 13 points while Jones had 10 off the bench. The Griffons return to action on Monday, November 25 with a non-conference game against Upper Iowa University. Game time is set for 7:00 pm in the fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sport Information —

The Missouri Western women’s basketball team were able to win a defensive struggle in their first road game of the season by a score of 63-59 against the Rockhurst University Hawks. The Griffons outscored the Hawks 9-4 in the final 4:47 of the game keeping them undefeated on the season at 4-0. The Griffons had 12 players score in the game with Sharniece Lewis leading the way with 10 points.

The first half was a back and fourth battle with neither team leading by more than three points. The Griffons largest lead was at 29-27 when Quenisha Lockett hit a free throw with 2:19 to play in the first half. Kendall Hart’s layup with 14 second left helped the Hawks close the half on a 7-4 run giving them a 34-33 lead.

Missouri Western opened the second half an a 9-3 run helping them to their largest lead of the game at 42-37 after an Ariana Novak free throw with 15:22 to play in the game. The Hawks responded going on a 13-6 run which was capped by Mary Dineen giving Rockhust the 50-48 lead with 9:11 to play. The teams continued to back and forth but with two free throws by Lewis with 4:20 to play gave the Griffons the lead for good.

The Griffons shots just 31-percent (18-58) from the field and 29.4-percent (5-17) from long range. They did make 71-percent (22-31) of their free throws. MWSU had 20 offensive rebounds and 14 second chance points. They also had 33 bench points and nine assists in the contest.

The Hawks fall to 3-2 on the season as they had three players score in double figures. Dineen led the way with 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting and going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. The Hawks made 29-of-36 free throw attempts in the game.

The Griffons return to action on Friday, November 29 when they travel to Springfield, Mo. to participate in the Doubletree/Houlihans Thanksgiving Classic. They will take on the Drury Panthers at 5:30 pm in the O’Reilly Family Event Center.

— MWSU Sport Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team placed 10 players on the MIAA Academic Honor Roll which was released by the MIAA office Friday (Nov. 22) afternoon. Amanda Boender and Sarah Faubel wer two of 18 volleyball players in the MIAA who received the MIAA Scholar Athlete Awards.

To achieve honor roll status, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 and have at least two terms of attendance at the certifying member institution, excluding summer terms.

Of the 95 MIAA student-athletes who received MIAA Academic Honor honors 18 of them have earned the MIAA Scholar Athlete Award, which is given to those who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.50, have at least two terms of attendance at the certifying member institution, excluding summer terms, and, if competing in a championship sport of the MIAA, earn All-MIAA honors.

Newcomers and MIAA Academic Excellence Awards will be given out following the end of the 2013-14 school year.

MIAA Academic Honor Award
Erin Backhuus
Amanda Boender
Jordan Chohon
Brooke Cousino
Sarah Faubel
Meredith McCormick
Lindsey Partridge
Holly Pollock
Kelly Scannell
Jessie Thorup

MIAA Scholar Athlete
Amanda Boender
Sarah Faubel

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western head volleyball coach Marian Carbin announces the signing of one student-athlete for the 2014 season. Ashley Mainord an outside hitter/middle blocker from Springtown, Texas will join the squad next fall.

Ashley Mainord is a 6-0 outside hitter/middle blocker from Springtown, Texas where she attended Springtown High School. She was a three year letter winner as well as being named first team All-District, All-County and All-State as a middle blocker. She was voted her teams Most Valuable Player as well as being named her district Most Valuable Player as a hitter. While being her teams captain she helped lead them to two undefeated district titles. She broke single season and career record in kills with 447 and 873 respectively. She is also a solid student being named Academic All-District in volleyball, basketball and softball. She is the daughter of Mike and Amy and is undecided on a major at Missouri Western.

“We are very excited about adding Ashley to our team in 2014,” commented Coach Carbin. “She has shown versatility as a middle hitter that plays all 6 rotations in high school, and because of that skill set we think she’ll be able to compete at both the middle hitter and outside hitter positions next fall. Her all-state honors in the state of Texas speak to her talent on the volleyball court, and on top of that we know that we’re getting a young lady that will be a great student as well.”

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western golf coach Greg Dillon has announced his first three signee’s at Missouri Western. Jakob Rudosky from Cortez, Colo. and Ryan Hand from St. Joseph, Mo. have signed to play for the men while Tiffanie Yabut from Omaha, Neb. will compete with the women.

Rudosky a 5-11 player from Cortez, Colo. played his high school golf at Dolores High School under his dad Micah and Tod Plewe. His greatest sports moment was winning regionals in a playoff with a 115 yard hole out. He was a two time All-State player as well as being a three time first team All-Conference performer. In 2013 he was the individual regional champion. He helped his team to three regional championships (2010, 2011, 2012) and to a 2nd place finish at state in 2010. In 2013 he had a scoring average of 71 and in 2012 of 73. He is the son of Micah and Anett and is undecided on a major at MWSU.

Hand is a 5-9 player from St. Joseph, Mo. He transfers to Missouri Western after playing two seasons at Dodge City Community College in Dodge City, Kan. His first season at Dodge City he finished in the top 25 five times and top 10 once. He shot a low round of 72 at the Jayhawk #4 tournament at the Salina Golf Course and finished 24th at the NJCAA D1 Men’s National Championship at Texas Tech Rawls. This past summer he finished tied for 26th in the Missouri Men’s Amateur Championship at Blue Hills CC in Kansas City firing rounds of 80-71. In the St. Joseph Men’s Tournament he finished 3rd with rounds of 78-72-74.

Yabut is a 5-1 player from Omaha, Neb. Se played her high school golf at Burke High School in Omaha, Neb. She was a four year letter winner at Burke while being named first team All-Metro once and second team All-Metro once. She was her teams captain as well as being a three time state qualifier as an individual. She placed in the top-20 at state all three years she qualified. She is also a very good student being a member of the National Honor Society and being an honor roll student. She is the daughter of Jay and Elizabeth and plans on majoring in exercise science at MWSU.

“I am really excited to land players like Jakob, Ryan and Tiffanie,” commented Coach Dillon. “We had needs as we are losing 3 solid seniors in Tyler Gast, Evan McCarthy, and Derek Hawkins. I believe Jakob and Ryan will fill those needs. These two kids are extremely excited to join this program and be part of Griffon Golf. Both are extremely powerful ball strikers. Both have proven short games as I like how both have continually shown vast improvement in their scoring averages. Both players have a competitive pedigree in junior and men’s amatuer golf and both have a hungry work ethic. They will fit in very nice with what we are doing with this program.”

“We had needs in Women’s Golf also,” stated Coach Dillon. “Darcy Smith and Shelby Stone will graduate. Tiffanie has an extremely solid golf swing and is an extremely accurate ball striker. Her short game is solid which is evident by her accomplishments in high school and junior golf events. We love the fit that she brings to us with her competitive nature. She too will fit very nicely with the players we have in this program.”

— MWSU Sports Information —

The MIAA announced its fall academic award winners for the sport of football on Thursday (Nov. 21). Nineteen Missouri Western football players were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll.

The MIAA Academic Honor Roll is for any sophomore, junior, and senior with at least a 3.00 cumulative GPA. To achieve honor roll status, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 and have at least two terms of attendance at the certifying member institution, excluding summer terms. The nineteen players that earned the honor include: Yomi Alli, Taylor Anderson, Jorge Belcher, Joey Capul, Blayke Elder, Alek Ferbet, Scott Groner, Sean Holloran, Chris Jimenez, Brock Kimball, Dalton Krysa, Alex Molloy, Andrew Molloy, CJ Mollus, Seth Morton, Nate O’Neill, James Schoonover, Charles Sciara and Leonard Wester.

Newcomers and MIAA Academic Excellence Awards will be given out following the end of the 2013-14 school year.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western volleyball team had four players named to the All-MIAA teams which were announced Wednesday (Nov. 20) morning. Junior outside hitter Erica Rottinghaus was named first team while junior middle hitter Amanda Boender, junior libero Sarah Faubel and freshman right side hitter Kelsey Olion all garnered honorable mention honors.

Erica Rottinghaus (OH, Jr., 5-10, Seneca, Kan.) earns first team honors for the first time in her career. It marks the first time since 2002 that the Griffons had a player on the first team. In 2002 Lindsey Palaia was MIAA MVP and a first team selection. Rottinghaus played in all 31 matches with 30 starts. She led the Griffons in kills with 387 averaging 3.22 per set. She had double digit kills in 24 of the 31 matches with a career best 22 at Central Oklahoma on October 19. She had 377 digs with double digit digs in 22 matches. She had a career high 18 three times. She also had 38 blocks on the season with a career best five against Emporia State on October 8. She is outstanding server finishing with 47 services aces and 455 (3.79 points per set) points.

Amanda Boender (MH, Jr., 5-10, Lincoln, Neb.) earned honorable mention honors for the first time in her career. She played in all 31 matches with 29 starts. She led the team with a .295 attack percentage with 247 kills and just 75 errors. She also led the team in blocks with 130 which is the 4th most in the MIAA. She finished second on the team with 341 points averaging 2.84 points per set.

Sarah Faubel (Libero, Jr., 5-9, Lincoln, Neb.) earned honorable mention honors for the first time in her career. She has had her best season in a Griffon uniform with 527 digs which is just the second time since 1983 that a Griffon has had over 500 digs. She finished just four behind Shelly Lowery who had 531 in 1996. She currently has 1,372 career digs which is is second all time. She sits being Sarah Ekdahl who had 1,565 through 1997-2000. She averaged 4.39 digs per set which is ninth in the MIAA. Her 527 digs is fifth most in the MIAA this season. She had a season best 30 against SD School of Mines on October 11.

Kelsey Olion (RS, Fr., 5-9, Champaign, Ill.) earned honorable mention honors for the first time in her carer. She had 276 kills while hitting .181 and averaging 2.73 kills per set. Olion played in 28 matches with 16 starts. She had 154 digs to go along with 63 total blocks and 319 points (3.16 per set). She had double digit kills in 16 matches with a career best 22 at Central Oklahoma on October 19. She also had double digit digs seven times with a high of 14 vs. South Dakota School of Mines on October 11.

The Griffons finished the season 16-15 overall and 9-7 in MIAA play. This marks the first time since 2006 that the Griffons will finish with an over .500 record and best record in MIAA play since 2000.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western head baseball coach Charles “Buzz” Verduzco announces the signing of two junior college student-athletes for the 2014-15 season. Zachary Taylor a infielder from Greenwood Village, Colo. played his high school baseball at Cherry Creek High School and transfers to MWSU from Fort Scott Community College while Brett Valentine a pitcher is from Blue Springs, Mo. and played his high school football at Blue Spring South High School. He transfers to Missouri Western from Longview Community College.

Zachary Taylor a 6-1, 175 infielder from Greenwood Village, Colo. where he played at Cherry Creek High School. He transfers to MWSU from Fort Scott Community College. His best sports moment was winning the state championship as a senior in high school. He is the son of Chris and Kim Taylor and plans on majoring in criminal justice at MWSU.

“We are very excited to add Zach Taylor to our team,” commented Coach Verduzco.”He is an exceptional infielder, who will bring some depth to our lineup. Zach has the high quality character and work ethic we look for in Griffon Baseball.”

Brett Valentine a 6-0, 190 pitcher from Blue Springs, Mo. played his high school baseball at Blue Springs South High School. He transfers to MWSU from Longview Community College. His greatest sports moment was hitting a grand slam against his high school rival. He is the son of Jason and Shelli and is undecided on a major at MWSU.

“Brett is a power arm that will look make an immediate impact,” stated Coach Verduzco. “Brett’s skill and demeanor on the mound will make him a valuable addition to the pitching staff. We are thrilled to sign him.”

— MWSU Sports Information —