By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
SPRINGFIELD, MO - The Missouri Western women's basketball team trailed by as many as eight points and trailed for over 17 minutes of Wednesday's game at Missouri State.
Yet, the Griffons kept battling and coming back for more.
In a game with eight ties and eight lead changes, Missouri Western outscored Missouri State 18-11 in the fourth quarter, and the Griffons beat the Division I Bears, 65-57, in an exhibition at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield on Wednesday night.
Missouri Western raced out to a 12-4 lead in the first quarter before Missouri State hit back and tied at 14-14 after the first 10 minutes.
The Griffons got down 24-16 halfway through the second, but rallied and only trailed 28-26 at halftime.
Trailing for most of the third quarter, Missouri Western retook the lead at 47-46 with 35 seconds left in the third, thanks to a left wing three-pointer by Jayme Jackson.
Trailing by one, Jackson made a pair of free throws to put the Griffons up 56-55 with 4:27 remaining. Missouri Western never lost the lead again.
Missouri State missed five free throws in the fourth quarter and shot just 3-of-12 from the field in the final 10 minutes.
Connie Clarke led all scorers and rebounders with 17 points and 12 boards. Jackson scored 15 points to go with two blocks and two rebounds.
Brionna Budgets finished with 12 points and five rebounds. She also had three steals. Mary Fultz scored 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
The Griffons shot 47.2 percent from the field Wednesday.
Lacy Stokes, an all-American transfer from MIAA member school Missouri Southern, led the Bears Wednesday with 12 points. Jade Masogayo finished with 11. Missouri State shot 35.7 percent from the field as a team.
The Griffons outrebounded the Bears 40-35 and outscored them in the paint 40-28. Missouri Western had 19 turnovers, while Missouri State had 17.
Both teams struggled at the free throw line. Missouri Western was 12-of-24, while Missouri State was 14-of-23.
Wednesday's result marks the first win over a Division I program for Missouri Western women's basketball since Nov. 9, 2012, when the Griffons beat UMKC 68-51 in Kansas City.
Missouri Western returns to St. Joseph for the Division II Women's Basketball Central Region Challenge at Civic Arena. The Griffons face Winona State on Friday, November 10 at 7:30 p.m.
They'll then take on Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday, November 11 at 7:30 p.m. Both games will be on KFEQ Radio (680, 95,3).
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