By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
WARRENSBURG - Connie Clarke led Missouri Western with a double-double and the Griffon women's basketball team scored a 77-69 win at No. 16 Central Missouri on Saturday at the UCM Multipurpose Building in Warrensburg.
The Griffons (15-4, 10-3 MIAA) were in a tight battle throughout, but never trailed by more than three points and held a lead for more than 33 minutes.
Missouri Western shot the ball consistently well throughout, hitting 52.6% (30-of-57) from the field. Clarke led the Griffs with her third double-double of the season, dropping 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Tiani Ellison was again impressive, scoring 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting off the bench. Brionna Budgets finished with 11 and Johnni Gonzalez had 10.
Things got a little tense for Missouri Western in the fourth. The Griffons led 64-54, but UCM (14-5, 8-5 MIAA) went on a 10-0 run to knot the game midway through the final period.
A Mackenzie Hart three-pointer coming out of a Candi Whitaker timeout, though, put the Griffons back in front and they never trailed again.
Saturday's game featured nine ties and seven lead changes.
Missouri Western has now won five straight games and 10 of their last 11. They've also beaten Central Missouri in each of the last five meetings.
The Griffons are also 2-0 against ranked opponents so far this season - both of those wins coming on the road.
Connie Clarke, Candi Whitaker interview
Full audio broadcast
Griffons start slow, rally falls short at Central Missouri
The Missouri Western men's basketball team made only one of their first 12 shot attempts against Central Missouri.
The Griffons trailed by 11 points on two separate occasions, and rallied each time to get back to within single digits, but the Mules (10-8, 5-7 MIAA) held off Missouri Western in a 68-60 decision at the UCM Multipurpose Building.
The Griffons (14-5, 8-5 MIAA) trailed by five at halftime, and got it to within four points on four separate occasions in the second half.
But, never once in that second half did Missouri Western trail by any less than four points. The Griffons only led for 1:56 of Saturday's game.
Missouri Western somewhat overcame a morbid shooting start, but still only shot 34.5% (19-of-55) on the day, including 6-of-21 from three.
Central Missouri was a solid 22-of-44 from the floor, but only 3-of-16 from three. The Mules went 20-of-25 at the free throw line to help secure the win, including 15-of-21 in the second half.
Missouri Western knocked down 16-of-19 free throws themselves.
Taye Fields led Missouri Western with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Julius Dixon had nine points. Justin Bubak and Kiani Saxon each scored eight.
The Griffons committed 15 turnovers, which led to 20 UCM turnovers. The Mules committed 13 turnovers themselves, but Missouri Western only scored nine points off of those.
UCM also outscored Western in the paint, 36-18. Jalen Knott led three Mules in double figures with 17 points. He was 10-of-13 at the foul line.
Missouri Western has now lost each of their last three games against Central Missouri, and the Griffon men haven't won in Warrensburg since December 2019
Missouri Western is also now 2-4 in MIAA road games this season.
Both Griffon teams return home for big time games against Fort Hays State on Thursday. The women's game is at 5:30, the men's at 7:30. Both are on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3, 680kfeq.com, KFEQ app).
Will Martin interview
Full audio broadcast
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