KEARNEY, Neb. – It was the biggest win of the season. It was the biggest upset in the history of the MIAA Women’s Basketball Championships.

The No. 12-seeded Missouri Western women’s basketball team knocked off No. 5-seed Nebraska Kearney, 60-57 Monday night to become the first 12-seed to ever win a game in the MIAA Championships. Missouri Western snapped a six-game losing streak and won on the road for just the second time all season and the first time against and MIAA opponent.

Missouri Western outscored the Lopers 21-13 in the fourth quarter to earn the victory. Down by seven with 6:53 left, the Griffons went on an 8-0 run capped by back-to-back three pointers by Mania Timson and Melia Richardson to take a one-point lead with 4:50 left. UNK answered to take a two-point lead, but the Griffons outscored the Lopers 8-3 over the final 3:33 to secure the team’s first postseason win since defeating Nebraska Kearney in the MIAA quarterfinals in 2016.

The Griffons advanced to the MIAA quarterfinals where they will face No. 4-seeded Central Oklahoma on Thursday, March 1 at approximately 8:15 p.m.

NOTABLES
– Timson led all scorers with a career-high 20 points, surpassing her previous career-high by 11 points. The freshman was 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range. She hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final 15 seconds to ice the victory.

– Nebraska Kearney made one of their last seven free throw attempts

– Missouri Western shot 88 percent at the free throw line while UNK shot 50 percent

– It was just the third time all season the Griffons won when trailing after three quarters

– Melia Richardson scored 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting to go with her four assists

– Savannah Lentz added 11 points

– Dossou Ndiaye scored nine points and pulled down nine rebounds

– Cera Ledbetter and KeShara Scott each pulled down eight rebounds

— MWSU Athletics —

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Griffon baseball (5-8) fell at Central Missouri (9-2) 15-10. It is the first time this season Missouri Western has been swept in a series.

The final game of the series turned into a slugfest as the teams combined for 25 runs on 28 hits. MWSU and UCM were tied 5-5 after three innings before exchanging leads three times in the next four and half innings. The Griffons tied the game at 10-10 in the top of the eighth inning with a Will Jibas RBI single. The Mules broke the tie in the bottom of the eighth with five runs.

NOTABLES
– 10 runs is the most scored by Missouri Western since May 3, 2017 when it put 12 runs across the plate against Drury University

– The teams combined to use 27 position players and 13 pitchers in the three hour and 40 minute game

– Nick Schranck was 3-for-4 at the plate with two doubles and two walks

– Kyle Snuttjer had three RBIs and scored a run

– Dusty Stroup and Brooks Day each scored two runs

– Central Missouri’s Justin Graff-Rowe was 3-for-3 with four RBIs

UP NEXT
Missouri Western travels to Southern Indiana in Evansville, Indiana for a three-game series beginning on Friday, March 2.

— MWSU Athletics —

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Griffon baseball (5-7) dropped a doubleheader at Central Missouri (8-2) Sunday in the opening weekend of MIAA conference play. The Mules won game one 4-2 and then picked up the second win 8-4.

Carson Dwyer cruised through five innings of work in game one but UCM capitalized on a shaky sixth inning and scored all four of its runs on a grand slam. Dwyer rebounded and retired Central Missouri three up and three down in the seventh and eighth innings.

The Mules used another late rally with five runs in the eighth inning to pull away from MWSU in game two. Missouri Western chipped away with three consecutive hits and two runs to lead off the ninth inning but it wouldn’t be enough to rally back for the win.

NOTABLES
– Casey Danley batted .500 and scored two runs

– Brooks Day was .429 on the day and drove in three runs

– Dusty Stroup recorded five total bases and hit the only MWSU home run

– Central Missouri pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts

UP NEXT
Missouri Western and Central Missouri play the final game of the series Monday at 1 p.m. in Warrensburg.

— MWSU Athletics —

PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Missouri Western track and field teams ended the MIAA Indoor Championships Sunday with seven top-10 finishes and two provisional marks.

Hanna Williams again hit a provisional and broke her own school record while finishing fourth in the 400m with a 55.83. In the women’s long jump, Mallory Vawter finished fifth with a school record and provisional jump of 18-9 (5.71m). Phil Thompson finished eighth in the men’s long jump with a 22-6 ¼ (6.86m). Kaitlyn Shoemaker finished seventh and broke the school record in the 3,000m with a 10:20.92. Graham Buresh brought home an eighth place finish in the men’s 400m with a 49.81. Both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams finished in the top-10. The men (Jalen Pauley, Chris Stanley, Nate Jelinek, Graham Buresh) finished eighth with a 3:19.56. The women’s team of Morgan Doyle, Alison Nutt, Madison Roumph and Hanna Williams finished ninth with a 3:57.48.

The women’s team finished in a tie for 11th with 18 points. The men’s team finished 12th with seven team points.

On the weekend, Griffons broke 11 school records and had nine top-eight finishes.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team lost their regular season finale at Lindenwood Saturday 88-70. The Griffons end the regular season 6-20 and 4-15 in the MIAA.

Cole Clearman went a perfect 4-for-4 from the three-point line in his final regular season game at Missouri Western. Clearman and Lavon Hightower connected on seven of MWSU’s 10 three-pointers. Lindenwood shot 63.5 percent from the field and 64.7 percent from the three-point arc. The Lions forced the Griffons into 14 turnovers.

Despite the loss, Missouri Western gets into the MIAA Tournament as the No. 12 seed. The Griffons will travel to Warrensburg, Missouri to play at Central Missouri at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday. MWSU finished in a three-way tie for the final spot but won the tiebreaker because of wins in the regular season over Emporia State and Northeastern State.

NOTABLES
– Missouri Western outscored Lindenwood 28-18 off the bench, it is the second consecutive game MWSU’s bench has outscored its opponent

– The Griffons shot 83.3 percent from the free-throw line, the highest in the last four games
MWSU won the rebounding margin 24-20

– The Lion’s Brad Newman scored a game-high 31 points, the second most allowed by Missouri Western this season.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The 2017-18 regular season ended Saturday with a 61-50 loss at Lindenwood (15-12, 8-11) for the Missouri Western women’s basketball team (11-17, 4-15).

Savannah Lentz tied the game at 44 with a three-pointer to open the fourth quarter, but the Griffons scored just six more points in the quarter while Lindenwood scored 17.

The MIAA will release the MIAA Championship bracket later Saturday, but Missouri Western is expected to make the field as the No. 12 seed. The Griffons are the No. 12 seed in the MIAA Tournament as they’ll travel to Nebraska Kearney on Monday for the opening round of the tournament. The Griffons earned the final spot by way of tie-break over Northwest Missouri. Missouri Western’s win over likely No. 4 seed Central Oklahoma back on Nov. 30 gave the Griffons the edge over the Bearcats who forced the tie with a win at Lincoln on Saturday.

NOTABLES
– Lentz went 4-of-7 from three-point range, scoring 14 points

– Melia Richardson led Missouri Western with 17 points

– For the 10th time in the last 11 games, MWSU held its opponent under 64 points

– Missouri Western went 10-of-11 at the free throw line

– The Griffons committed 19 turnovers and shot 38 percent from the field

– Missouri Western finished the regular season 1-11 on the road

— MWSU Athletics —

PITTSBURG, Kan. – Day two of the MIAA Indoor Track and Field Championships produced two top-five finishes and two provisional marks for Missouri Western track and field athletes.

Julia Odir finished fourth in the women’s triple jump and earned an NCAA Division II provisional mark with a 38-8 ¾ jump. In the men’s triple jump, Phil Thompson finished fifth with a provisional mark of 49-1 ½.

In other finals action, Saturday, Kaitlyn Shoemaker recovered from a fall in the 5,000m to finish seventh with an 18:26.96. In the women’s weight throw final, Kallin Sheppard set a new Missouri Western best throw of 45-3 ½.

Hanna Williams and Graham Buresh both qualified for Sunday’s finals in the 400m. Buresh broke the school record in the prelims with a 49.28.

OTHER NOTABLES
– Chris Stanley broke the school 600yd record (1:13.98)

– Nate Jelinek recorded a personal-best 1:14.11 in the 600yd

– Morgan Doyle had a personal best 1:29.48 in the 600yd

– Megan Gillen had a personal season-best 2:23.75 in the 800m

– Kylie Lineberry recorded a pr in the 60m with an 8.29

The championships wrap up on Sunday in Pittsburg, Kansas. Along with Williams and Buresh in the men’s and women’s 400m finals, the Griffons will send entries into the men’s and women’s shot put finals and men’s and women’s long jump finals.

— MWSU Athletics —

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team knocked off Lincoln Thursday in Jefferson City 82-73. The Griffons improve to 6-19 and 4-14 in the MIAA and now control their own destiny to get the final spot in the MIAA Tournament. It’s the second straight road win for MWSU and they snapped Lincoln’s four-game win streak.

Lavon Hightower and Wes Mitter had career nights in the MWSU win. Hightower scored a career-best 30 points and Mitter came off the bench for a career-high 21 points. The Griffons went into halftime with a three-point lead and momentum when Mitter nailed a three-pointer with eight seconds left in the half.

Missouri Western carried the momentum to the second half as it built a 15 point lead seven minutes into the half. Lincoln made a run to cut the lead to one possession with 7:27 left in the game. But Hightower and Mitter answered with nine straight points for MWSU to push the lead back to double digits. The Griffons shot 60 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from the three-point arc in the second half.

Missouri Western kept its postseason hopes alive with the win. MWSU tied Emporia State and took a one game lead against Northeastern State for the final spot in the MIAA Tournament. The Griffons own tiebreakers over ESU and NSU if the three teams are tied at the end of the regular season.

NOTABLES
– Wes Mitter also had a career-high five three-pointers in the win

– Lavon Hightower scored 17 of his game-high 31 points in the first half, it is the third straight game that he has scored 24 points or more

– Hightower connected on 13 field goals, a new career-best

– Missouri Western outrebounded Lincoln 37-27 and 10-7 on the offensive glass

– MWSU was 52.5 percent from the field for the game, the fourth consecutive game with a field-goal percentage better than 44 percent

– The Griffons’ 82 points is the most this season and third game in a row with at least 80 points

UP NEXT
Missouri Western travels to Lindenwood on Saturday, Feb. 24 for the final game of the regular season. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. from St. Charles, Missouri.

— MWSU Athletics —

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Western women’s basketball lost at Lincoln Thursday 73-62 as the Griffon fall to 11-16 and 4-14 in the MIAA.

After a big first quarter from the Blue Tigers, Missouri Western had to battle back in the second quarter. MWSU outscored LU 23-11 in the second quarter and went to halftime tied at 32. However, the Griffons couldn’t sustain the momentum into the second half. Lincoln outscored Missouri Western 41-30 over the final 20 minutes to secure its first MIAA win of the season. Savannah Lentz scored 12 of her team-high 19 points in the second half.

The Griffons did clinch a spot in the MIAA Tournament earlier in the evening when Northwest Missouri lost at Lindenwood 84-51. It is the fourth consecutive season that Missouri Western has qualified for the MIAA Tournament. Rob Edmisson has now taken MWSU to the postseason in five of his six seasons as head coach.

NOTABLES
– Savannah Lentz made four three-pointers against LU, it is the sixth time this season she has made at least four threes in a game

– Melia Richardson scored 18 points for the second time in three games

– Missouri Western made six three-point field goals, the most since Jan. 20

– Lincoln outrebounded the Griffons by 12, 32-20

– 73 points is the most allowed by MWSU since an overtime loss on Jan. 15 to Southwest Baptist and snaps a streak of nine games holding opponents to under 63 points

UP NEXT
Missouri Western heads to Lindenwood on Saturday, Feb. 24 for a 1:30 p.m. game. It will be the final game of the regular season for the Griffons.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Griffon softball (3-9) dropped both games of a doubleheader with No. 1 Minnesota State (6-0) to open the Kelly Laas Invitational inside the Husky Dome at St. Cloud State University.

The teams played two games on opposite ends of the spectrum. Minnesota State rallied to force extra innings in game one, winning 8-7 in 10 innings. In game two, it was all Mavericks as the defending national champions scored five runs in the first and 10 in the fourth of a 15-5, five inning victory.

NOTABLES
– Missouri Western trailed 5-3 after three innings in game two before Minnesota State scored 10 runs in the fourth

– The Griffons led by two runs in game one three different times

– A great throw by Lonnie Groves with two outs and a runner on second in the eighth got the Griffons to the ninth

– Morgan Frost made two great catches in left field to get the game to the 10th

– The Griffons committed four errors in game one with Minnesota State committing two in the game

– Kenzie Hilzer struck out six batters in game one, pitching all 9 1/3. Four of the eight Minnesota State runs were earned

– Shelbie Atwell went 6-for-8 on the day with an RBI and two runs scored. The senior has pushed her season average to .450, batting .593 over her last eight games.

– Morgan Frost went 4-for-8 on the day with a pair of doubles

UP NEXT
The Griffs don’t get much time off, playing St. Cloud State (5-1) on Feb. 23 at 7 a.m. inside the Husky Dome.

— MWSU Athletics —