Sports – Page 480 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Missouri Western’s Jefferson named WBCA First Team All-American

Posted on March 21, 2016

ST. JOSEPH – LaQuinta Jefferson has become the first Missouri Western women’s basketball player to garner two All-American honors in one year since Becky Reichard in 1999. Jefferson was named first team All-American by the WBCA on Monday after being named honorable mention All-American by the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association earlier in the day.

Jefferson led Missouri Western to its best season in more than a decade. The senior guard from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was named MIAA Player of the Year, unanimous first team All-MIAA and first team D2CCA All-Region after her team won its first MIAA regular season championship since 2002.

Jefferson led the MIAA in scoring and ended the season averaging 20.3 points per game. She became the 19th Griffon to score 1,000 points in her career and finished with 1,081 career points and an MWSU record, 20.8 career points per game average.

Jefferson is the first Griffon Women’s Basketball student-athlete to be named All-American since Jessica Koch was an honorable mention WBCA All-American in 2012. Reichard was the last Griffon to pull in two in one season, being named WBCA/Kodak All-American and Daktronics honorable mention All-American in 1999.

— MWSU Athletics —

Missouri loses at No. 2 seed Texas in 2nd Round of NCAA Tournament

Posted on March 21, 2016March 21, 2016

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Ariel Atkins scored 22 points and No. 2 seed Texas earned its second consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 with a 73-55 win over No. 10 Missouri on Monday night with an impressive display of speed and athleticism that overmatched the bigger Tigers.

Lashann Higgs scored 11 points and was a sparkplug off the bench for the Longhorns (30-4), who head to the Bridgeport, Connecticut, Regional looking to make their deepest run in the postseason since a Final Four appearance in 2003. Texas will play UCLA in the Sweet 16.Missouri’s starting lineup is 6-feet or taller and Texas simply turned any matchup problem on its head with aggressive defense on the perimeter that gave the Tigers no easy looks at the basket up close.

Sophie Cunningham scored 23 points for Missouri (22-10), which had made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006.

Cunningham looked to have Missouri rolling early when she hit two 3-pointers for the game’s first baskets and pumped her fist as an exclamation point. But the rest of her team couldn’t match her.

The Longhorns shook off a 0 for 7 shooting start with a 17-3 run that pushed the ball in transition and kept the bigger Tigers backpedaling.

Despite their quick start, the Tigers were just 3 of 16 shooting in the first quarter and launched 11 3-point attempts instead of trying to attack Imani Boyette under the basket.

Three consecutive 3-pointers pushed the Texas lead to 14 in the second. Nothing captured Texas’ advantage in speed and athleticism like a play late in the quarter.

Cunningham picked off an errant pass and sprinted to the basket, but missed the layup over two Texas defenders. With one quick outlet pass to halfcourt, Brooke McCarty found Higgs for an easy layup at the other end as Texas took a 36-21 lead into halftime.

Texas had several chances to open a huge edge in the third, pushing the lead as high as 18 as Atkins made her third 3-pointer and Higgs kept doing her work on defense and in transition.

But Cunningham scored nine in the quarter to keep the Tigers in it, even though they couldn’t shave the deficit under 10.

The Tigers’ last push came early in the fourth when Cunningham’s steal and layup cut the Texas lead to 54-43. But Atkins converted a 3-point play and Kelsey Lang’s layup after a nifty pass from Brianna Taylor had the Longhorns off and running again.

TIP-INS

Missouri: Unwilling to challenge Texas inside, the Tigers attempted 28 3-pointers and made eight.

Texas: The Longhorns average 16 turnovers a game, but in the postseason have tightened up what had been a chronic problem. Texas had 13 against Missouri compared to 20 assists on 30 field goals.

UP NEXT

Missouri: Season’s over.

Texas: Against UCLA on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

Bearcats’ Pitts earns All-American honor from CCA

Posted on March 21, 2016March 21, 2016

EDINBORO, Pa. – Northwest Missouri State University sophomore Justin Pitts earned All-America honorable mention honors from the Division II Conference Commissioners Association on Monday.

Pitts, the 2015-16 MIAA Player of the Year, completed a historic season for the Bearcats, setting single-season records for points scored (693) and field goals made (253).

Now a two-time first-team All-MIAA performer, Pitts scored in double figures in all 32 games played this season and eclipsed 20 points 21 times, including a career-high 38 points against Minnesota State in the Central Region semifinals, third-most in school history (3/13/16). He reached 1,000 career points in just 53 games.

The sophomore was named Central Region tournament Most Outstanding Player after scoring 88 points on 35-of-51 shooting across three games. Through two seasons at Northwest, Pitts is the all-time leader in three point field goal percentage, drilling 49.4 percent of his shots from behind the arc (131-for-265).

The Blue Springs, Mo. native led the Bearcats in scoring (21.7), three point percentage (49.4), assists (5.0) and steals (1.5), helping Northwest to an MIAA-record 19 conference victories, an outright MIAA regular season title, an MIAA tournament title and a third-straight trip to the Central Region Championship game.

— Northwest Athletics —

MWSU men’s golf team tied for 10th after round one at Broncho Invite

Posted on March 21, 2016March 21, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The Missouri Western men’s golf team returned to action on Monday afternoon competing at the Broncho Invitational. The Griffons currently sit tied for 10th in the standings with a team score of 332. The event is taking place at the Gaillardia Country Club which is a par 72 – 7136 yards.

Missouri Western was led by a pair of 80’s in the first round of competition by Jakob Rudosky and Ryan Hand. They are currently tied for 15th in the individual standings. Senior Corey Knight fired an 83 in his first round and is tied for 33rd place after one round.

The Griffons are currently one stroke behind Washburn for ninth place and two strokes behind Southern Arkansas and Central Missouri for seventh place in the team standings. Central Oklahoma leads the tournament with a team score of 314 and Oklahoma Christian has a team score of 321 for second place.

Eric Kline and Eli Armstrong of Central Oklahoma lead the tournament individually with a score of 76 in the first round.

The second round of play will continue Tuesday at the Broncho Invitational.

— MWSU Athletics —

Northwest tennis teams sweep East Central

Posted on March 21, 2016March 21, 2016

The Northwest Missouri State University men’s and women’s tennis teams won a pair of matches against East Central University in Ada. Okla., on Monday.

The Bearcat men won, 7-2, while the women won, 5-4. The women clinched the match with an Andrea Gallardo win at No. 5 singles with the match at 4-3.

The men’s team moves to 6-1 overall while No. 45 ECU falls to 6-7. The Bearcat women are now 5-4 overall after knocking off East Central which falls to 6-9.

Match Results
Men’s Scores
1. Boissinot,Romain (NW) def. Espias,Sergio (ECU) 7-5, 6-3
2. Riveros,Alvaro (NW) def. Abella,Adria (ECU) 6-2, 6-3
3. Fontcuberta,Sergi (NW) def. Fillat,Alex (ECU) 6-2, 6-3
4. Tete,Mauro (NW) def. Eldagsen,Erik (ECU) 7-5, 6-2
5. Lerch,Marc (ECU) def. Glowick,Fin (NW) 4-6, 6-1, 10-7
6. Autones,Aymeric (NW) def. Schodlbauer,Stefan (ECU) 6-0, 6-1

1. Riveros,Alvaro/Fontcuberta,Sergi (NW) def. Fillat,Alex/Lapiedra,Albert (ECU) 8-6
2. Boissinot,Romain/Autones,Aymeric (NW) def. Eldagsen,Erik/Abella,Adria (ECU) 8-4
3. Schodlbauer,Stefan/Espias,Sergio (ECU) def. Tete,Mauro/Altmann,Josef (NW) 8-6

Women’s Scores
1. Municoy,Julia (ECU) def. Jarolim,Lorena Rivas (NW) 6-4, 6-3
2. Emersic,Kaja (NW) def. Garcia,Anna (ECU) 6-1, 7-5
3. Makashov,Alex (ECU) def. Kolen,Aniek (NW) 3-0, 99-0
4. Jacquet,Margaux (NW) def. Mayorga,Gloria (ECU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Gallardo,Andrea (NW) def. Richison,Becca (ECU) 7-5, 6-2
6. Mijares,Veronica (ECU) def. Sestokaite,Vilune (NW) 4-6, 6-0, 10-7

1. Jarolim,Lorena Rivas/Sestokaite,Vilune (NW) def. Makashov,Alex/Municoy,Julia (ECU) 8-5
2. Garcia,Anna/Mayorga,Gloria (ECU) def. Kolen,Aniek/Jacquet,Margaux (NW) 8-5
3. Emersic,Kaja/Gallardo,Andrea (NW) def. Richison,Becca/Mijares,Veronica (ECU) 8-2

The Bearcat men’s and women’s teams will head to Wichita, Kan. to take on Newman University on Tuesday starting at noon.

— Northwest Athletics —

Griffons run-rule Southern to salvage final game of series

Posted on March 20, 2016

ST. JOSEPH – The same storyline played out for the third day in a row between the Missouri Western and Missouri Southern baseball teams on Sunday. But this time roles were reversed as the Griffons dominated offensively in a 12-2 run-rule victory.

David Glaude’s RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the seventh plated the run that salvaged Missouri Western its only win in the series after falling 14-2 and 12-2 in the first two games of the series. Evan Jones performance on the mound helped the Griffons (15-8, 7-5) cause. Jones went all seven innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits. He struck out three and walked three, improving his record to 3-0 on the year.

Jeremy Alvardo finished a triple short of hitting for the cycle, going 4-4 with five RBIs and three runs scored. Alvarado drove in Missouri Western’s first three runs of the game with a solo home run in the second and a two-run double in the third that prompted a six-run inning for the Griffons. Glaude went 3-4 with one RBI and three runs scored. Landon Mason improved his season average to .436 with a 2-4 day at the plate and two RBIs.

Missouri Western stays at home this coming Tuesday, April 22 for a single game with Emporia State.

— MWSU Athletics —

Bearcat baseball finishes off sweep of Lincoln

Posted on March 20, 2016

The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team swept a three-game MIAA series against Lincoln with a 15-6 victory on Sunday at Bearcat Field.

The Bearcats move to 13-9 overall and 8-4 in MIAA play. The Blue Tigers are now 1-21 on the year and 0-12 in conference action.

Northwest scored in all eight innings, collecting 13 hits with no errors. Nine different players scored runs for the Bearcats, eight different players collected hits and five collected at least one RBI.

This was the first three-game sweep of the season. It was the sixth time the Beacats have scored 10+ runs, the first time in back-to-back games. Northwest’s bullpen worked 4.2 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just three base hits from the fifth inning on.

The Bearcats got three in the sixth and eight innings, two in the first, second and seventh innings and single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

Lincoln scored four in the third, one in the fourth and one in the fifth. The Blue tigers had 11 hits and eight errors, leading to eight unearned runs.

Nick Gotta went 3-for-6 with four RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base. He hit his second home run of the year in the seventh inning.

Kolby Greenslade was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, an RBI, a walk and a stolen base.

Kevin Handzlik was 2-for-4 with a run scored, a walk and three stolen bases.

Derek Meyer was 2-for-5, crossing the plate twice.

Ozzie Adams was 1-for-3 with three runs scored, two walk, a stolen base and an RBI.

Jay Hrdlicka went 1-for-5 with a double, two RBI, a run scored and a sacrifice fly.

Austin Wulff, who entered the game in the third inning, was 1-for-4 with a run scored.

Nikko Pablo picked up his first win of the year, going 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. He had two strikeouts.

Bryce Shea worked two innings of relief. He struck out four batters, allowing just one hit and one walk.

Carson Smith, who appeared in a non-save situation, needed just 15 pitches to record the final three outs, two coming by way of the strikeout.

The Bearcats will head to Kearney, Neb., to take on the Lopers on Tuesday, March 22, at 3 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

Griffon softball finishes 5-1 at Apple Market Classic

Posted on March 20, 2016

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western softball team finished the weekend with a 5-1 overall record at the Apple Market Classic. The Griffons won in dominating fashion against Wayne State 14-6 in six innings and fell to Augustana in the final game 12-5 in the final day Sunday.

Game 1

The Griffons fell behind early in the game in the opening games of the day. MWSU allowed five runs in the second and a solo home run in the third inning. The Wildcats took a 6-0 lead heading into the fourth inning.

Shyanne Saladino entered the game as pitcher and silenced the Wildcat bats, pitching four innings and allowing just three hits and no run. The Griffon offense came alive, scoring at least four runs in the fourth, five and sixth inning.

MWSU picked up three walks in the fourth innings, helping the Griffons score five runs in the inning. Morgan Rathmann and Katie Klostermann each contributed with RBIs in the inning.

In the fifth inning, Sydney Washington recorded a three-run home run while Taylor Hamilton and Rathmann also picked up RBIs. MWSU took a 10-6 lead heading into the sixth.

The Griffons finished off the Wildcats as they added four more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Five different Griffons had multiple hits in the game, led by Klostermann and Washington. Washington picked up five RBIs and Klostermann produced three hits and three runs.

Game 2

MWSU was not able to extend their winning streak past Augustana. The Vikings were able to score in six of the seven innings and tally at least one hit in six innings.
Augustana was able to gain an early advantage, scoring one run in the both the first and second innings compared to the Griffons one run. Augustana carried its 2-1 lead into the top of the fifth inning.

Augustana was able to power a two-run home run to right field, extending their lead to 4-1. The Griffons were able to respond with timely hits in the bottom half of the inning, scoring three-run to even the score at 4-4. The Griffons loaded the bases and Hamilton eventually tallied an RBI and Kailey Green recorded a double to right field, picking up two RBIs.

Augustana was too much for the Griffons as they scored three more runs in the sixth inning and five more runs in the seventh inning.
Kailey Green had three hits in the game, picking up four RBIs in the process. Five other Griffons had one hit in the game and Hamilton had the other RBI.

The Griffons will be on the road and back in conference action as they face off against Lindenwood University and Lincoln. MWSU will play Lindenwood on Friday starting at 2 p.m. and Lincoln on Saturday starting at 11 a.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

Mizzou baseball gets swept by No. 1 Florida

Posted on March 20, 2016March 20, 2016

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Mizzou Baseball dropped its series finale at No. 1 Florida, 7-5, on Sunday afternoon (March 20) at McKethan Stadium. Mizzou rallied from down 6-1 to pull within one run at 6-5 but failed to plate the tying run despite having runners in scoring position with just one out in both the seventh and eighth innings. Florida then added an insurance run in the eighth to pull away for the win. Mizzou falls to 14-9 (0-3 SEC) while Florida goes to 21-1 (3-0 SEC).

Senior Austin Tribby (Springfield, Mo.) was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs on five hits over 3.0 innings. Florida’s Alex Faedo earned the win, despite Mizzou tagging him for a career-worst five earned runs in the win. He had allowed just four earned runs all year prior to Sunday.

Mizzou’s offense was led by RBI doubles from lefties Jake Ring (Ingleside, Ill.) and Zach Lavy (Auxvasse, Mo.) and a two-double performance from sophomore Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.). Freshmen Connor Brumfield (Columbia, Mo.) and Brian Sharp (Liberty, Mo.) and sophomore Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) tallied RBIs in the loss.

Tribby ran into trouble in the first inning as leadoff hitter Dalton Guthrie worked a nine-pitch at-bat and singled through the left side. CF Buddy Reed then launched a two-run homer two pitches later to put Florida on top, 2-0. Tribby then walked the next two batters, but an infield fly and a 6-4-3 double play got him out of the jam.

After Faedo struck out the side in the top of the second, Tribby came back out and looked to settle down, needing just nine pitches for a 1-2-3 inning in the second. Mizzou then tallied its first run of the game as the bottom of the order got things going. Bond ripped a one-out double, his second of the year, and Ian Nelson (St. Louis, Mo.) moved him to third on a ground ball to the right side. Brumfield then singled to plate Bond, cutting the UF lead in half at 2-1.

As quick as Mizzou cut into the lead, Florida extended it in the next half inning, using a pair of RBI doubles to score three runs to extend the lead to 5-1. RHP Cole Bartlett (Williamsburg, Ind.) relived Tribby in the fourth inning and surrendered a leadoff triple to Nelson Maldonado and a sacrifice fly to left to give Florida a 6-1 lead. LF Harris made a tremendous play on the sacrifice fly, diving to make the catch near the line.

Mizzou then exploded for four runs off of Faedo in the sixth inning, using RBI doubles by Ring and Lavy with an RBI single by Sharp and an RBI groundout by Harris to plate the four runs. An incredible play by Florida 2B Deacon Liput likely saved the tying run on Harris’ RBI groundout.

Ring made two tremendous catches in center in the bottom of the sixth after a leadoff single, but then an infield single and a walk loaded the bases. RHP Liam Carter (Highland Park, Ill.) came on and go J.J. Schwarz to fly out to center to end the inning.

Mizzou then threatened in the seventh inning after a leadoff double by Bond and a two-out walk by Brumfield. But Howard struck out looking off of UF reliever Dane Dunning to strand a pair. Mizzou then stranded the tying run in scoring position in the eighth inning as well. Florida then added insurance in the form of a J.J. Schwarz RBI double to right field for a 7-5 advantage.

Mizzou will be off this midweek as it prepares for a three-game home series over Easter weekend against No. 2 Vanderbilt at Taylor Stadium.

— Mizzou Athletics —

K-State women get blown out by No. 1 seed South Carolina in 2nd round

Posted on March 20, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Tiffany Mitchell scored 16 of her 20 points in the first two quarters as top-seeded South Carolina opened a big lead and breezed into the Sweet 16 with 73-47 victory over Kansas State on Sunday night.

The Gamecocks (33-1) romped through their first two NCAA Tournament games, defeating Jacksonville by 36 points before routing the ninth-seeded Wildcats (19-13) on the way to their fourth round of 16 in the past five seasons. South Carolina, though, is looking for much more and showed the inside strength and defense that might help achieve their national championship goal.

Mitchell was the catalyst in the first 20 minutes, slicing through the Kansas State defense whenever she had the ball.

The Gamecocks will face Syracuse (27-7) on Friday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in the next round.

Breanna Lewis had 21 points to lead the Wildcats, who had no answer once South Carolina got going.

Alaina Coates had 14 points and 10 rebounds, her second straight double-double in the NCAA Tournament and 19th of the season.

The Gamecocks led by 19 points at the break and eventually grew the lead to 32 points against their Big 12 Conference opponents.

Kansas State had hoped to make the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2002 and thought its 6-foot-5 junior Lewis could limit the effectiveness of South Carolina’s inside power duo of 6-5 A’ja Wilson and 6-4 Coates.

That job looked easier when Wilson was called for two fouls less than two minutes into the game.

But it was Mitchell, a two-time SEC player of the year, who powered the Gamecocks past the Wildcats early on. Her steal and easy basket after Wilson went to bench way early got a nervous crowd to exhale and steadied South Carolina’s attack.

Mitchell sliced through Kansas State’s defense on the way to a three-point play after the Wildcats had tied things for a final time at 7-all.

She killed off any hopes of a Kansas State comeback in the final minute before halftime with a 3-pointer before banking home a basket as the buzzer sounded to put the Gamecocks up 45-26 and cruising to their fourth Sweet 16 appearance in five years.

Mitchell got big hugs from her teammates — and a rousing ovation from the fans — when she left the court at Colonial Life Arena for a final time. The senior helped the Gamecocks go 47-1 at home the past three seasons, the lone defeat to NCAA Tournament favorite UConn 66-54 last month.

TIP INS

Kansas State: The Wildcats’ Breanna Lewis had six blocks against George Washington on Friday night, setting the school record for most games in a career with five-or-more blocks at 14. Lewis has 177 blocks the past two seasons, also a Kansas State record. She finished with two blocks against the Gamecocks.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks have turned up their stingy defense even more in the past month. They’ve held their past nine opponents to an average of 49 points a game. One team has broken the 60-point barrier in that stretch — and that was Kentucky in a 93-63 loss in the SEC tournament semifinals earlier this month.

UP NEXT

Kansas State’s season is over.

South Carolina will play No. 4 Syracuse in the Sweet 16 on Friday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

— Associated Press —