By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
MARYVILLE - Missouri Western women's basketball didn't know until about 4:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, whether or not they had clinched at least a share of the MIAA regular season championship.
The No. 21 Griffons (22-4, 17-3 MIAA) had, an hour previously, thumped Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, 67-44, at Bearcat Arena in a battle of NCAA tournament contenders.
Missouri Western, in order to clinch on Saturday, needed not only to beat Northwest, but also needed Fort Hays State (21-6, 15-6 MIAA) to beat Missouri Southern (19-7, 15-5 MIAA) in Hays, KS.
It took until almost 4:30, it took double overtime, but Hays did beat the second place Lions, 85-81.
The Griffons, with a two-game lead over both MoSo and Hays, have clinched at least a share of the league title, regardless of what happens in their last two regular season games.
As for Saturday's game in Maryville, Missouri Western made a statement, racing out to a 26-5 start and leading by as many as 22.
The Griffons, who have held five straight teams to 59 points or less, and seven straight opponents to sub-40 percent shooting, held the Bearcats (20-6, 14-6 MIAA) to an abysmal 28 percent (14-of-50) from the field.
Northwest was also an ugly 10-of-24 at the free throw line. Missouri Western forced 20 turnovers, and scored 20 points off of those.
The Griffons, winners of 12 straight games and now five straight against Northwest, shot an efficient 51 percent from the field (26-of-51) and were a sharp 12-of-14 at the foul line.
Brionna Budgets led Western with 17 points. Jayme Jackson and Tiani Ellison each had 10. Connie Clarke was just shy of a double-double with nine points and nine boards.
LaJahda Boyland came off the bench to score nine.
Molly Hartnett led Northwest with 16 points. Evelyn Vazquez came off the bench for 10.
The Griffons bullied Northwest in the paint, outscoring the Bearcats there 36-12. Northwest also missed five layups.
Missouri Western women's basketball has clinched an MIAA regular season crown for the sixth time in program history and the first time since 2016.
A win at Newman Thursday would give it to the Griffs outright.
Candi Whitaker postgame
Full audio broadcast
MWSU men battle hard, No. 7 Northwest holds on for win
The Missouri Western men got down 8-0 in the first 4.5 minutes at Bearcat Arena, and at the moment, it seemed like it could be a long day.
Missouri Western responded, taking a one-point lead with 7:15 left in the first half, and trailing by only a point, 26-25, at the break.
No. 7 Northwest (22-4, 18-2 MIAA) never trailed in the second half, led by as many as 12 and held on for a 65-57 win over the Griffons in Maryville Saturday in front of a packed house.
The Griffons (15-11, 9-11), who have lost five straight and eight of their last nine, played a stellar first half defensively, holding the sharp shooting 'Cats to just 7-of-19 shooting in the first half.
Northwest was solid in the second half, hitting 14-of-23 from the field, including 4-of-9 from deep.
Bennett Stirtz led the way with a game-high 22 points. He also had seven rebounds. Wes Dreamer, who had missed the last three games with a wrist injury, returned to the lineup, dropped 16 points and grabbed a team-best eight boards.
Missouri Western, who was without starting forward, lead rebounder and second best scorer Taye Fields last Saturday against Rogers State, got Fields back in the lineup, and he added eight points, seven boards, four assists, three blocks and two steals off the bench.
Zion Swader had his best scoring day since January 18, leading the Griffons with 14 points. JaRon Thames had 13. Justin Bubak added 10.
Missouri Western shot 40.8% (20-of-49) on the day, and were a solid 12-of-14 at the free throw line, but were held to 5-of-19 from three.
Despite the losing skid, Missouri Western has clinched a spot in the MIAA tournament with Central Missouri losing to Washburn Saturday, 68-49.
Northwest, who on Thursday clinched its 11th straight regular season MIAA title with Fort Hays State's loss to Pittsburg State, has now won 11 straight games since losing at MWSU, 76-70, on January 13.
Northwest ends the regular season 12-0 at home. They've also beaten Western in each of the last 15 games played at Bearcat Arena in the series.
Missouri Western ends the regular season on the road this week, first facing Newman on Thursday. The women tip at 5:30, the men at 7:30. Both games are on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3, 680kfeq.com, KFEQ app).
Both Griffon teams are then at Pittsburg State Saturday for 1:30 and 3:30 games.
Northwest is at Central Oklahoma Thursday, and Missouri Southern Saturday.
Will Martin interview
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