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Category: College

Benedictine defeats Westmont 90-85 in NAIA Tournament opener

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The Benedictine men’s basketball team opened the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City Thursday with a 90-85 victory over Westmont (CA).

The Ravens advance to the Sweet 16 as they improve to 31-3 this season and Westmont ends its season 18-11.

Benedictine fell behind by as many as eight points in the first half before cutting the deficit to one, 38-37, at halftime. The Ravens then rolled in the second half as they eventually led by 14 points with about three minutes to go before hanging on for the five-point win.

BC was led by St. Joseph Central graduate Jaiden Bristol. The sophomore point guard scored a career-high 36 points, grabbed nine rebounds, had two assists and just one turnover. Adam Kutney added 17 points, Eric Krus scored 15 and Colby Nickels had 12.

Benedictine will play Pikeville (KY) in the second round Friday at 7:30 p.m. inside Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. Pikesville defeated Talladega (AL) on Thursday 69-65.

Trotter matches career record for MIAA wins as MWSU tops Northern State

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ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western Softball head coach Jen Bagley Trotter earned career win No. 614, tying her for the most wins in MIAA softball history with former MWSU head coach Rhesa Sumrell in a 6-4 victory over Northern State (8-11) on Thursday.

Trotter’s Griffons (16-12) fought back to open the Hy-Vee Classic with the milestone victory, scoring a crucial run in the bottom of the fourth to break a 4-4 tie.

NOTABLES

  • Trotter hit her second milestone of the season, earning her 600th win on the second day of the 2019 season and moving one win away from becoming the winningest softball coach in MIAA history
  • A Gabi Carter RBI-single in the bottom of the fourth gave MWSU the winning run
  • Sydni Hawkins added an insurance run with an RBI-single in the bottom of the fifth
  • Carter went 3-4 in the game and drove in three of MWSU’s runs, including a two-run home run in the third
  • Northern State opened up a 3-0 lead after two and a half innings
  • Carter’s home run provided the first two of four runs in the bottom of the third that gave MWSU a 4-3 lead
  • Kaili Hinds improved to 9-3 on the season, allowing four runs on five hits
  • Lexi Kinnaird earned her first save of the season, going the final three innings and keeping the Wolves off the scoreboard on two hits

UP NEXT

  • The Griffons host Augustana (S.D.) in what will be the fifth game of the Hy-Vee Classic at noon on Friday.

— MWSU Athletics —

 

Northwest softball splits two games Thursday at Hy-Vee Classic

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ST. JOSEPH, Missouri – The Northwest Missouri State University softball team snapped a six-game losing streak by splitting a pair of games at the Hy-Vee Classic.

Northwest tallied a 10-5 win over Northern State, before falling to No. 17-ranked Augustana in extra innings, 5-4.

Game One | Northwest vs. Northern State
Northern State had a 4-0 advantage as the Bearcats came to bat in the third.

The Bearcats answered in the bottom of the third scoring four runs. Olivia Daugherty started things strong with an RBI bringing in Sheridan Thompson to score. Erin Keeney also had an RBI bringing in Daugherty. Next up, Kiana Baderdeen doubled to center field allowing Keeney to score. Sydne Brashear reached base on an error by the first baseman, which allowed Baderdeen to score tying the game at 4-4.

Northwest scored three more in the bottom of the fourth starting with two RBI from Kaitlyn Weis as she drove in Daugherty and Thompson. Moses scored on an error from the second baseman advancing the lead to 7-4.

The Bearcats scored two more in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI from Daugherty that plated Kenzi Sutton. Weis hit a sacrifice fly to score Thompson to push the lead to 9-4.

Northern State scored one in the top of the sixth but it wasn’t enough as the Bearcats scored another run in the bottom of the sixth on a home run from Baderdeen to get the win, 10-5.

Game Two | Northwest vs. No. 17 Augustana
Northwest score first with an RBI from Brashear bringing in Moses to give the Bearcats a 1-0 lead over the Vikings.

Augustana answered in the top of the third with an RBI to tie the score, 1-1.

The Bearcats scored two in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI from Weis and an error from the right fielder allowing Moses and Daugherty to score advancing the score to 3-1.

Augustana knotted the contest at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the sixth. Neither squad could score in the seventh and the matchup went to extra innings.

Augustana hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth to take the lead, 5-3.

The Bearcats scored one in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI from Thompson allowing Brashear to score, but it wasn’t enough and the Bearcats fell, 5-4.

Up next for the Bearcats is day two of the Hy-Vee Classic Friday against Winona State at 2 p.m.

NOTES: Weis leads the Bearcats with a batting average of .408, four home runs, and 18 RBI … Moses is batting .396 on the season.

— Northwest Athletics —

Lawson carries Kansas over Northeastern 87-53 in NCAA Tournament opener

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Kansas, with all its ups and downs this season, was a popular pick to be one of the NCAA Tournament’s first big upsets.

As higher seeds like Auburn and Michigan had tense moments in their openers, the Jayhawks soared into the next round.

Dedric Lawson had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Kansas dominated inside for an 87-54 rout over Northeastern Thursday in the Midwest Region

“I thought our guys were as locked in as they’ve been all year,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.

The fourth-seeded Jayhawks (26-9) had a notable size advantage inside and used it, outscoring the Huskies 50-16 in the paint while grabbing 17 more rebounds.

Devon Dotson controlled the offense and scored 18 points, while Dedric’s brother, K.J., chipped in 13 points.

Kansas shot 56 percent and advanced to Saturday’s second round against fifth-seeded Auburn.

“We were settling for 3s early in the game,” K.J. Lawson said. “Once we settled in, everybody was in attack mode and had a great performance today.”

The best shot for the 13th-seeded Huskies (23-11) was to make their 3-point tries.

They didn’t.

The Colonial Athletic Association champions went 6 for 28 from the arc after finishing the regular season 17th in Division I at 38.6 percent. Sharpshooter Vasa Pusica had a hard time getting separation from the Jayhawks’ athletic guards, finishing with seven points on 2-of-11 shooting.

Jordan Roland had 12 points to lead the Huskies, who shot 28 percent overall.

“They took us out of our own identity,” Northeastern coach Bill Coen said. “If you were dialing up a blueprint for an upset, you have to have a great shooting night. Unfortunately, we didn’t have that.”

The Jayhawks had a regular season like few others in their storied history.

Kansas made the NCAA Tournament. That was no shock. This was its 30th straight year in the bracket.

But the Jayhawks were a No. 4 seed when they’re usually a 1 or 2.

Kansas played all season without Silvio De Souza after he was connected to the federal probe into college basketball corruption. Center Udoke Azubukie was lost for the season in January to a wrist injury. Senior guard Lagerald Vick left the team for personal reasons in February.

Self navigated the attrition the best he could, piecing together a lineup with four freshmen and a lineup no one could have predicted at the season’s start.

The result: Kansas had its 14-year reign as Big 12 champions come to an end and was a trendy upset pick against the 3-shooting Huskies in the NCAA Tournament.

Kansas gave them little chance.

Northeastern was no match for Lawson inside and had a hard time stopping the Kansas guards off the dribble from the get-go. Lawson had 16 points by halftime and the Jayhawks led 37-25.

The Huskies also needed to make 3-pointers to keep Kansas in reach and didn’t, going 5 for 17 in the first half.

The trend continued to start the second half. Lawson hit a 3, scored inside and Kansas used a 16-2 run to go up 53-32.

“We missed our first few shots and I don’t know if we got flustered,” Northeastern’s Bolden Brace, who had seven points and nine rebounds. “We kind of relied on the 3-point shot and when that kind of didn’t work out, other parts of our game kind of fell apart a little bit.”

BIG PICTURE

Northeastern got over a hump by bouncing back from a big disappointment in last year’s CAA tournament, but didn’t have the size or athleticism to keep up with the Jayhawks.

Kansas did what it normally does as a high seed in the NCAA Tournament, stretching its opening-game winning streak to 13 games.

THE LAWSON MATCH-UP

Dedric Lawson was a preseason All-American and a matchup problem for teams all season.

Pack it in and he’ll shoot outside. Leave him 1-on-1 in the post, he’ll wear his defender out.

Northeastern, with one regular over 6-foot-8, certainly had no one who could contain him. Lawson made 9 of 16 shots, 3 of 5 from the 3-point arc and all four of his free throws.

“We didn’t really have a matchup for him,” Coen said. “It was a very difficult matchup for us going in. We were hoping to do a better job on him.”

UP NEXT

Kansas faces No. 5 Auburn in Saturday’s second round.

Northeastern’s season is over.

— Associated Press —

Missouri’s Cunningham named region finalist for WBCA All-America

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ATLANTA, Ga. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball senior guard Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) was named a Region 2 finalist for the Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association All-America team, announced by the organization Thursday. It is third consecutive year Cunningham has been named a region finalist.

The Tiger senior helped lead Mizzou to its first conference tournament semifinal appearance since 1994 at this year’s SEC Tournament. Mizzou recorded wins over Florida (March 7) and Kentucky (March 8) in Greenville, S.C. In Mizzou’s semifinal matchup with Mississippi State (March 9), Cunningham scored 33 points to become Mizzou’s all-time scoring leader, as her 2,158 points surpassed Joni Davis’ (1981-85) mark of 2,126 points.

Cunningham was recently named to her third straight All-SEC First Team by the league’s coaches, becoming the first player in program history to earn All-Conference First Team honors in three consecutive seasons. In addition, Cunningham was named to the All-SEC First Team by the Associated Press for the second straight season.

The SEC’s active career scoring leader, Cunningham is averaging 18.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Her 82 three-pointers rank fifth in Mizzou single season history, while her 594 points rank seventh.

Cunningham finished the regular season ranked fourth in the SEC in scoring (17.3 ppg), third in three-point percentage (40.7), third in three-pointers per game (2.3) and third in free throw percentage (81.8). In conference play, she led the SEC in three-point shooting (46.5 percent) and threes per game (2.9). Cunningham has reached 20 points in 15 games this season, including 10 times against SEC opponents, and 30 points three times. Mizzou is 13-2 when she scores 20+, and 2-1 when she reaches 30 points.

The Tiger senior is one of three Mizzou players to score 2,000 career points. Among program records, Cunningham ranks first in scoring (2,158 points), first in free throws made (526), second in three-pointers made (235), second in three-point percentage (40.7), third in free throw percentage (83.6), fourth in points per game (17.0) and fourth in assists (384).

REGION 2

Chennedy Carter                 Texas A&M University

Sophie Cunningham            University of Missouri

Rennia Davis                         University of Tennessee

Reyna Frost                           Central Michigan University

Tyasha Harris                        University of South Carolina

Anriel Howard                      Mississippi State University

Rhyne Howard                      University of Kentucky

Presley Hudson                    Central Michigan University

Darby Maggard                     Belmont University

Teaira McCowan                  Mississippi State University

Maci Morris                          University of Kentucky

Caliya Robinson                    University of Georgia

Missouri Western’s Ong earns another MIAA Golfer of the Week honor

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The MIAA announced on Thursday morning that Missouri Western senior Shi Qing Ong has been named MIAA Women’s Golfer of the Week. Ong receives the recognition after winning the Holiday Inn Express Classic this week and tying for first at the Warrior Invitational in Las Vegas last week.

At the Holiday Inn Express Classic, Ong topped a leaderboard that featured 82 golfers, winning by an entire five strokes. She shot a 148 (+4) on the St. Joseph Country Club course, including a two-under 70 in the first round. She led the entire field with seven birdies while also adding 19 pars.

One week before playing a familiar course in St. Joseph, Ong and Missouri Western began the spring season at the Warrior Invitational in Las Vegas. Ong tied teammate Anna Bech for first place at the event, leading the Griffons to finish first in the team standings. Ong and the Griffons battled wind gusts that reached as high as 50 miles per hour in the second round. In the first round in Las Vegas, Ong put together a one-under par performance with a score of 71.

With her two wins this spring, Ong now has 11 in her career at Missouri Western. She and the Griffons will look to continue their early-season momentum when the team heads to the Jennies Invitational in Warrensburg on March 25.

— MWSU Athletics —

Griffon softball sweeps Northwest Missouri State

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ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western softball team (15-12, 4-4) earned its first true doubleheader sweep of the season taking its series from Northwest Missouri State (3-11, 0-6) Wednesday night.

Missouri Western jumped out to a 9-0 lead in game one then fought off a Bearcat rally to win 11-8. In game two, the Griffs scratched across five runs in a bit of a pitcher’s duel to win 5-1. With the two wins, MWSU head coach Jen Bagley Trotter moved one win away from tying Rhesa Sumrell as the winningest coach in MIAA history.

GAME 1
Missouri Western 11, Northwest 8

  • A five-run first and a four-run second gave the Griffs a 9-0 lead after two innings
  • Northwest chipped away at the lead in the third and fourth before a big, 6-run sixth inning pulled the Bearcats within one
  • MWSU added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth
  • The Griffons had five doubles in the game
  • Emma Hoffart had four RBIs in the game and went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and a home run
  • Brea Blanton also homered and went 2-for-4
  • Morgan Frost was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two doubles
  • Gabi Carter went 2-for-4 and Sydni Hawkins was 2-for-3 with a double
  • Kaili Hinds improved to 7-3 on the season, going 6 1/3 total with five strikeouts

GAME 2
Missouri Western 5, Northwest 1

  • Kenzie Hilzer pitched one of her best games of the season, holding the Bearcats to one earned run on five hits. She struck out five and walked just one to move to 3-5 on the season.
  • The Griffons spread their offense around a little more, scratching out a run in the second, two in the third and two in the sixth on Northwest starter Rachel Smith
  • Smith struck out six Griffon batters in 5 2/3
  • Frost stayed hot, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and another double. She had two RBIs on a single in the sixth that put Northwest away
  • Hawkins added two more hits and was 2-for-2 at the plate

UP NEXT

  • The Griffons host the Hy-Vee Classic beginning Thursday, March 21
  • The schedule for the classic has been adjusted once again with the loss of Minot State from the field and the threat of rain over the weekend
  • Still, the Griffons will open the Classic against Northern State at 2 p.m. on Thursday.

— MWSU Athletics —

Roby lifts Nebraska over Butler 80-76 in NIT

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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Isaiah Roby had a career-high 28 points as Nebraska edged past Butler 80-76 in the NIT first round on Wednesday night. James Palmer Jr. added 23 points for the Cornhuskers.

Roby shot 9 for 12 from the floor and converted 9 of 10 foul shots. He added eight rebounds.

Glynn Watson Jr. had 17 points for Nebraska (19-16). Johnny Trueblood added seven rebounds.

Sean McDermott had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Bulldogs (16-17). Paul Jorgensen added 12 points. Jordan Tucker had 11 points.

— Associated Press —

Missouri Western women’s basketball coach Rob Edmisson steps down

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Click here to listen to Rob Edmisson

ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western Head Women’s Basketball Coach Rob Edmisson has announced he is stepping down from his position effective immediately.

“After serious consideration, thought and prayer, I have decided to step down from my position as head coach at Missouri Western,” Edmisson said. “I believe at this time it is best for Missouri Western to find a new leader who can build on the success we have brought back to this program. I greatly appreciate everyone here at Missouri Western – our staff and student-athletes especially – for their dedication and support as we led the program to its resurgence. My family has tremendously enjoyed St. Joseph and the support of this community during our time at Missouri Western and we wish nothing but the best for this program, department and University in the future. Praise the Lord and Go Griffs!”

Edmisson led the program for seven seasons, compiling a 118-86 record at Missouri Western, the third most coaching wins in program history. Under his leadership, the Griffons won the 2016 MIAA Regular Season Championship and set an MIAA record with 20 conference wins that season. The 2015-16 Griffons also reached the NCAA Division II Central Region Championships. It was the first of back-to-back 20-win seasons, a first for the program in 12 years.

Director of Athletics Josh Looney will immediately lead a national search for the ninth head coach in Griffon Women’s Basketball history.

“Coach Edmisson leads from his heart and placed every ounce of his personal energy into Griffon Women’s Basketball,” Looney said. “The University is very appreciative for all of the service – and success – Rob has given to Missouri Western over the past seven seasons. We wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors.”

Nineteen MWSU student-athletes were received All-MIAA distinction under Edmisson’s tutelage including 2016 MIAA Player of the Year LaQuinta Jefferson. The Griffons reached the postseason in six of Edmisson’s seven years, reaching the MIAA Championship quarterfinals all six times and the semifinals twice.

In 23 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Edmisson compiled 520 wins and a .728 winning percentage. He was named the eighth head women’s basketball coach at Missouri Western after winning the 2012 NAIA National Championship at Oklahoma City. Edmisson posted 15, 20-win seasons in his collegiate coaching career and just two losing seasons in 23 years. As a high school head coach, Edmisson went 110-30 in six seasons at Ellinwood, Kansas and Fairfield, Kansas. He started his coaching career at Doane College (Neb.) as an assistant coach. After playing basketball and baseball at Pratt Community College, Edmisson received his bachelor’s degree from Bethany (Kan.).

— MWSU Athletics —

Bearcats defeat Southern to win Central Region title, advance to NCAA DII Elite Eight

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MARYVILLE, Missouri – The No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team secured the program’s fourth trip to the Elite Eight with an 82-70 victory over Missouri Southern State University in the NCAA Central Region final Tuesday in Bearcat Arena.

Sophomore Ryan Hawkins tallied a game-high 28 points as Northwest improved to 35-0 on the season.

Hawkins carried the offense early by scoring the first 13 points of the game for the Bearcats. While Hawkins was firing on all cylinders, Missouri Southern was doing the same and built an 18-11 advantage with 11:36 to play in the first half.

“I thought the putback bucket by Hawkins was a big one for us,” Northwest head coach Ben McCollum said. “That kind of ignited us and got us going after Southern came out and had a lead.”

Hawkins rebound and score off a three-point miss from redshirt freshman Trevor Hudgins ignited an 8-0 run that gave Northwest a 19-18 lead with 9:05 left before halftime.

The Bearcats other Ryan then started to heat up. Junior Ryan Welty buried three straight three-pointers on Northwest’s next three possessions. Following Welty’s third triple, Northwest held a 28-22 lead with 3:13 to play before intermission. Northwest would take a 33-24 lead into the locker room.

A pair of Hudgins free throws to open the second half put the margin into double figures where it would stay until a layup from MSSU’s Kinzer Lambert trimmed the lead to nine at 65-56 with 2:36 to play. But Northwest was able to make 13-of-14 free throws in the final 1:19 to clinch the region title.

Northwest will travel to Evansville, Indiana, and take part in the NCAA Elite Eight March 27-30. Northwest will be the No. 1 seed and will take on Mercyhurst on Wed., March 27, at 2:30 p.m. in The Ford Center.

  1. Northwest Mo. St.
  2. West Tex. A&M
  3. Queens (NC)
  4. Nova Southeastern
  5. St. Anselm
  6. Point Loma
  7. Southern Ind.
  8. Mercyhurst

The schedule for Wednesday’s quarterfinals will be:

  • 12 p.m.: (4) Nova Southeastern vs. (5) St. Anselm
  • 2:30 p.m.: (1) Northwest Mo. St. vs. (8) Mercyhurst
  • 6 p.m.: (2) West Tex. A&M vs. (7) Southern Ind.
  • 8:30 p.m.: (3) Queens (NC) vs. (6) Point Loma

NCAA Central Region All-Tournament Team 
Kevin Buckingham (Southeastern)
Noah Starkey (Southern Nazarene)
Cam Martin (Missouri Southern)
Kinzer Lambert (Missouri Southern)
Ryan Hawkins (Northwest Mo. St.)
Joey Witthus (Northwest Mo. St.)

NOTES: Northwest earned trip to the Elite Eight in 2002, 2004 and 2017 … Northwest captured the NCAA Division II national championship in 2017 … Northwest improved to 17-0 at home and the Bearcats have won 66 of their last 68 home games … Northwest’s 35 wins equal the school record of wins in a season (previously set in 2016-17) … Joey Witthus has made 108 three-pointers this season equaling the school record set by Zach Schneider in 2016-17) … Trevor Hudgins set the Northwest single-season assist record and has accumulated 190 on the season … Witthus has scored 731 points this season and needs 23 more points to equal the school record for points in a season set by Justin Pitts (754 pts.) set in 2016-17.

— MWSU Athletics —

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