ST. JOSEPH – Due to travel issues with the Missouri Southern women’s basketball team, Wednesday night’s women’s basketball game has been postponed until Thursday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. in the MWSU Fieldhouse.
Wednesday’s men’s game between the two teams will be played as scheduled at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 14 in the MWSU Fieldhouse.
— MWSU Athletics —
ST. JOSEPH – Weather concerns in St. Joseph and Bentonville, Arkansas have created schedule changes for both Griffon baseball and softball this weekend.
The Arkansas-Monticello 9-State Classic in Bentonville has been cancelled. Due to the cancellation, Griffon softball will now host Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth in doubleheaders on Feb. 17 and 18. The softball team’s home opening doubleheader against Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 15 is still on as scheduled. Northwest Missouri will also come to St. Joseph to participate in the quad crossover, playing Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State on Feb. 17 and 18.
Baseball has pushed its home opener back one day and will now open with a doubleheader against St. Cloud State on Feb. 17 at noon. The first game of the doubleheader is scheduled to be a seven inning game. If that game goes more than seven innings, the second game of the doubleheader will become a seven inning game. The Feb. 18 series finale is still scheduled for noon.
Due to conflicts created by the schedule changes, specific details on live stats and video streaming for the revised schedule are to be determined.
REVISED SCHEDULES
SOFTBALL
Saturday, Feb. 17, 10 a.m. doubleheader: Missouri Western vs. Minnesota State
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2 p.m. doubleheader: Northwest Missouri vs. Minnesota Duluth
Sunday, Feb. 18, 10 a.m. doubleheader: Missouri Western vs. Minnesota Duluth
Sunday, Feb. 18, 2 p.m. doubleheader: Northwest Missouri vs. Minnesota State
BASEBALL
Saturday, Feb. 17, Noon doubleheader vs. St. Cloud State (first game of DH scheduled for seven inning)
Sunday, Feb. 18, Noon single 9-inning game vs. St. Cloud State
— MWSU Athletics —
EMPORIA, Kan. – Griffon basketball (5-17) defeated Emporia State (8-16) 65-61 at W.L. White Auditorium Saturday night. Missouri Western fought off a second half Hornet rally with six points in the final 20 seconds of the game.
Missouri Western broke open a lead in the first half by shooting 52.4 percent from the field. MWSU used a 19-5 run over 9:24 to take a 37-23 advantage into the halftime break. Emporia State went on a 23-8 run in the second half to trim the MWSU lead to two points with 1:14 remaining in the game. Lavon Hightower’s running floater with 20 seconds left gave the Griffons a two possession cushion. Clutch free-throws from TJ Evans and Bryan Hudson iced the win for Missouri Western after that.
With the win, Missouri Western holds the final spot in the MIAA Tournament with two weeks remaining. The Griffons have tiebreakers over both Northeastern State and Emporia State as the three teams are all tied in the MIAA standings.
NOTABLES
– Missouri Western had four players in double-digits led Cole Clearman and Lavon Hightower’s 13 points apiece
– The Griffons shot 46.7 percent from the field and were 52.4 percent in the first half
– Clearman and Trey Brown combined for seven of the Griffons eight three-pointers
– MWSU secured its first win in White Auditorium since Jan, 25, 2012
– Emporia State outscored MWSU 38-28 in the second half
– ESU’s Brandon Hall had a game-high 22 points
UP NEXT
Missouri Western is back at the MWSU Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Feb. 14 against Missouri Southern for a 7:30 p.m. game. It is the final weekend of home games for the 2017-18 season.
— MWSU Athletics —
EMPORIA, Kan. – Griffon women’s basketball (11-13) fell to Emporia State (15-7) 60-40. Savannah Lentz made four-three point field goals for Missouri Western. It is the fifth time this season she made four or more three-pointers in a game.
After outscoring the Hornets in the second quarter, MWSU went into halftime with momentum on a Lentz three-pointer at the buzzer as they trailed 29-25.
Lentz also ended the third quarter with back-to-back three-pointers as well. After the Griffons cut the deficit to four points at halftime, Emporia State turned up its defense as MWSU was held to 15 second half points. ESU limited MWSU to just six field goals and two three-pointers in the second half.
NOTABLES
– Savannah Lentz scored a game-high 14 points and was 4-9 from the three-point line
– Dossou Ndiaye had a career-high four blocks, which made up half of the team’s total
– Lentz and KeShara Scott grabbed 13 of Missouri Western’s 28 rebounds
– Emporia State knocked off Missouri Western in the regular season for the first time since the 2014-15 season
UP NEXT
Missouri Western returns for its final weekend in the MWSU Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Feb. 14 against Missouri Southern. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
— MWSU Athletics —
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Griffon baseball (4-3) split its second doubleheader at Arkansas Tech (5-3). The two teams also split the four game series.
Missouri Western tied game one in the fifth inning as Levi Schreiner drove in three runs on a double to right center field. ATU broke the 5-5 tie with two runs in the seventh inning. The Griffons scored runs in the first and second innings and Carson Dwyer shut down the Wonder Boys offense in game two. Dwyer gave up one earned run in 6 1/3 innings and struck out six batters for his second win of the season.
NOTABLES
– Levi Schreiner went 4-5 on the day with four RBIs and two walks
– Maurice Bruce was 3-4 at the plate in game two and 5-9 for the day
– Preston Bailey went 1 2/3 innings with two strikeouts in the first game and earned the two out save in the second game, it is his second save of the season
– MWSU outhit ATU 19-13 in the doubleheader split
– Arkansas Tech was 1-7 with runners in scoring position for game two
UP NEXT
Missouri Western opens the home season with a three-game series beginning on Friday, Feb. 16. First pitch on Friday from the Spring Sports Complex is scheduled for 2 p.m.
— MWSU Athletics —
BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Griffon softball (2-2) rebounded Friday for a split on the final day of the Arkansas-Monticello Division II Challenge.
After a wild, 17-10 loss to Emporia State (5-4) in the first game of the day, Missouri Western handed Arkansas Tech (6-2) its first loss of the week, 5-2.
NOTABLES
– The Griffons trailed Emporia State by eight runs, three different times. The Griffons got within three before ESU scored five in the top of the seventh
– Emporia State and Missouri Western combined for 34 hits in the game that took three hours to complete
– The Griffons snapped Arkansas Tech’s six-game win streak
– Kenzie Hilzer limited an Arkansas Tech lineup that averaged nearly eight runs per game to two runs
– Rebekah Mueller hit a solo home run in each game, going 4-for-6 with three runs scored
– Shelby Uhl went 3-for-5 on the day with a home run, four RBIs and three runs. Uhl started the season 7-for-11 (.636)
– Tamara Hicks went 4-for-8 Friday with two stolen bases
– Gabi Carter hit a three-run home run against Arkansas Tech and was 3-for-6 with four RBIs on the day
– Morgan Frost also went 3-for-6 with three runs
UP NEXT
The Griffons are scheduled for their home opener on Feb. 15. Missouri Western will host Minnesota Duluth in a doubleheader.
— MWSU Athletics —
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Missouri Western baseball team split its first of two doubleheaders in a series at Arkansas Tech Thursday. The Griffons dropped the opener 10-9 before winning game two 7-1. MWSU improves to 3-2 on the season.
After a quick start to game one, Arkansas Tech held off a five-run sixth inning Griffon rally highlighted a Dusty Stroup grand slam. The bats warmed up late again in game two as MWSU scored all seven runs in the final two innings. Nate Hunter shut down the ATU hitters as he tossed a one run complete game.
NOTABLES
– Hunter’s first complete game of the season in the second game saw him strike out three batters and allow just one earned run on seven hits with a 1.29 ERA
– Kyle Snuttjer joined Stroup as Griffons who knocked out home runs in game one
– Levi Abrahamson tossed 3 2/3 innings of relief work, struck out four batters and gave up just one hit in the opening game
– The Wonder Boys committed five errors in game two and eight errors for the day
– Missouri Western outscored Arkansas Tech 16-11 in the two games
– MWSU turned three double plays in the two games
– Missouri Western is the first MIAA team to beat Arkansas Tech, ATU went 3-0 last week against MIAA opponents
UP NEXT
Missouri Western and Arkansas Tech play another doubleheader on Friday, Feb. 9 with game one set for 2 p.m.
— MWSU Athletics —
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Sophie Cunningham scored 29 points on 8-of-10 shooting, Cierra Porter had a double-double and No. 15 Missouri held off Kentucky 83-78 on Thursday night.
Porter had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers (19-5, 7-4 Southeastern Conference). Jordan Frericks had 15 points and nine rebounds and Amber Smith added 13 points.
Taylor Murray led Kentucky (12-13, 4-7) with 23 points and Maci Morris had 22.
The Wildcats, down 59-46 after three quarters, made 11 of 17 shots in the fourth quarter, including 4 of 6 3s, to put the pressure on. Missouri made 15 of 18 free throws in the fourth quarter, 12 of the makes coming in the final 2 1/2 minutes.
A 3-pointer by Murray with 7.1 seconds left made it a 3-point game, but Cunningham iced it from the line with 6.8 seconds left.
Missouri finished 10 of 21 from distance with Cunningham 5 of 7 and Smith 3 of 6.
— Associated Press —
BENTONVILLE, Ark. – The Missouri Western softball team opened the 2018 season with a win and a loss at the Arkansas-Monticello Division II Challenge.
The Griffons opened the day with a 4-0 loss to No. 12 Harding before taking care of the host school, Arkansas-Monticello, 4-1 in its second game of the day. MWSU limited Arkansas-Monticello to four hits and scored three runs in the third. After three closely contested innings, Harding scored three in the fourth before three more scoreless innings.
NOTABLES
– Kaili Hinds and Barbara Billingsley combined to allow just one Arkansas-Monticello hit in the second game of the day. The hit came on an RBI-double down the right field line in the sixth
– In her first collegiate competition, Hinds pitched 7 2/3 with the start against Arkansas-Monticello and a relief appearance against Harding. The freshman allowed five hits, struck out seven and walked one
– Shelby Uhl went 4-for-6 on the day with an RBI and a stolen base
– Tamara Hicks had the Griffs’ lone extra base hit on the day with an RBI triple against Arkansas-Monticello
– Missouri Western had 14 hits on the day with 11 of them coming against Arkansas-Monticello
UP NEXT
The Griffons stay in Bentonville for two more game, playing Emporia State (3-4) at 10 a.m. on Friday and Arkansas Tech (5-1) at approximately noon.
— MWSU Athletics —
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team came up short at Washburn Wednesday night as they lost 78-74.
The Griffons drop to 4-17 this season and 2-12 in the MIAA, while Washburn remains tied for first in the MIAA with a 12-2 record and they’re 18-5 overall.
Cole Clearman broke the Missouri Western career three-point record and became the 15th player in program history to score 1,000 career points with a three-pointer with 9:35 left in the first half.
Washburn pushed its one-point halftime lead to eight points with a 10-1 run with just five minutes to play. Bryan Hudson started an 11-6 Griffon rally just seconds later to cut the lead to one point with 2:19 left in the game. However, the Ichabods got a lay-up from Randall Smith and hit free-throws in the final minute to pull away.
Clearman was one of four Griffons to knock down a three-pointer in the first-half. MWSU shot 66.7 percent from the three-arc and led for over 15 minutes in the first half. The early lead was built from tip-off with a 16-6 run in the first 4:40 of the game. Lavon Hightower scored nine of the team’s 16 points during the early stretch.
NOTABLES
– Clearman broke Heath Dudley’s 27-year old record three-point record and is the first player since Damon Bailey in 2003 to score 1,000 career points
– Lavon Hightower and Bryan Hudson combined to go 11-12 from the free-throw line and score 32 points
– Hudson scored a career-best 16 points for the Griffons
– Missouri Western had three players score in double-figures and Washburn had four players score 13 or more
– The Ichabods outrebounded the Griffons 36-26 and 12-5 on the offensive glass
UP NEXT
Missouri Western travels to Emporia State for a 7 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 10.
— MWSU Athletics —
