By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Missouri Western women's basketball team dominated for much of the first half and pulled away late for a 76-60 win over Emporia State at the MWSU Fieldhouse on Saturday.
The Griffons (20-5, 14-3 MIAA) jumped out to a 21-8 lead at the end of the first and were rolling in the second quarter, going up 45-19 with 1:19 left before halftime.
Emporia State (12-11, 7-10 MIAA) gave it their all in the third quarter, outscoring the Griffons in that time 17-11 and getting the game to within 52-41 with 50 seconds left in the third.
The Hornets then got to within 12 with 4:49 left in the game, but Missouri Western made the final push to put the game out of reach. An 8-0 run put the Griffons ahead 71-51 with 2:57 to go.
"Great win," Missouri Western coach Candi Whitaker said. "Emporia is a talented team. They give you a different look than everyone else in the league. They look like they're in a zone (defense) when really they're in a man, and I think we prepared hard for that."
Brionna Budgets led Missouri Western with 24 points, including a 7-for-7 effort at the free throw line. Connie Clarke logged her 11th double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 boards. Mary Fultz came off the bench for 13 points and nine rebounds.
"This is group is super special and is really fun to be a part of," Fultz said. "To show how much we grow every single year and what we really can accomplish, we could be unstoppable."
The Griffons outrebounded Emporia State 49-39 and logged 19 assists to just 11 turnovers. Missouri Western outscored Emporia in the paint 42-26 and the Griffons managed 23 fast break points.
"I thought we were fantastic in the first half in transition," Whitaker noted. "Just had some beautiful passing and running the floor. We went into a little lull went they went triangle-and-two (on defense), but when we started running our man actions, we started getting better looks in rhythm and better opportunities to rebound."
Tre'Zure Jobe led three Hornets in double figures with 26 points.
The win on Saturday gives Missouri Western at least 20 wins for the third time in four seasons - all under Whitaker's direction.
"That's kind of the marker on if you've had a good season," she said. "It's a big deal for programs to win 20 games every year and hopefully we can string them together."
Missouri Western men survive back-and-forth battle to top Emporia
The Missouri Western men's basketball team led by eight in the first half, trailed by eight in the second and waded through 12 lead changes and four ties to top the Hornets 65-60 on Saturday at the MWSU Fieldhouse.
Missouri Western (10-12, 6-10 MIAA) ended Saturday's game on a 9-2 run over the final 3:27. The Griffons also knocked down 14-of-17 free throws in the second half were 15-of-19 from the stripe on the day.
"Just really proud of our guys," Missouri Western coach Will Martin said. "Credit to Emporia State. That's a great team. They have a lot of great individual players on that team, starting with Owen Long. We gave Julius (Dixon) that matchup, and he did an unbelievable job."
Dixon led the Griffons with 19 points, including a 3-of-8 effort from beyond the arc. Junior Will Eames came off the bench for 17 points and nine rebounds in his second game back from injury after a seven-game hiatus.
"(Will) impacts the game in so many ways," Martin said. "You see how much we've missed Will. You look back, it wasn't just Will. We had some other injuries and illnesses, but you see how impactful it is when you lose your leader."
Sophomore Taye Fields scored nine points to go with a game-high 15 rebounds.
Owen Long, Emporia's leading scorer who leads the league with 71 made three-pointers, was held to just five points on 0-of-5 shooting from distance.
Alijah Comithier led Emporia with 21 points. Peyton Rogers-Schmidt scored 14.
It was a big, much needed week for Missouri Western who entered the week riding a six-game losing streak. The Griffons are still 11th in the MIAA standings with six games remaining in the regular season.
"I told the guys that we have to treat this like the NBA playoffs," Martin said. "We said tonight was game one. We better win the series and get at least four wins to put us in a decent spot."
"I think we just have to stay the course really," Dixon added. "We know what all we've been through and with us being with each other, I feel like that helps us get over our humps and stuff like that."
Both Missouri Western teams hit the road Thursday to face Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The women play at 5:30, and the men follow at 7:30. Both games will be on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3, 680kfeq.com).
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