By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Missouri Western women's basketball team turned a close game into a big win, as the Griffons wore out Washburn down the stretch in a 98-78 win over the Ichabods at Civic Arena Saturday.
The Griffons (8-3, 4-2 MIAA) shot 60.3% from the field, including 9-of-23 from three and were a sharp 19-of-23 from the foul line.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with nine lead changes and eight ties, but Missouri Western outscored Washburn 54-37 in the second half.
With star players Brionna Budgets and Connie Clarke in early foul trouble, Missouri Western relied on its bench for help, and the Griffons got the help they needed.
Twelve Griffons scored as Western piled up 48 bench points. Jayme Jackson led the charge with a season-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-6 from three.
Budgets and Tiani Ellison both scored 11 points. Mary Fultz and LaJahda Boyland finished with 10.
In only 13 minutes, Clarke scored seven points to put her over 1,000 in her Griffon career. She also had seven rebounds, two steals and a block.
The Griffons doled out 21 assists with only 10 turnovers.
Aubree Dewey led Washburn (7-3, 2-2 MIAA) with 18 points. Aniah Wayne finished with 15. The Ichabods missed nine free throws in the loss and were held to 38.3% shooting.
Candi Whitaker interview
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Offensive boards, turnovers lead Washburn to close win over MWSU
Saturday's men's basketball game between Missouri Western and Washburn featured 19 lead changes and 10 ties. It really could have gone either way.
Washburn, however, scored 13 second chance points on 16 offensive rebounds and 19 more points off of 14 Griffon turnovers.
That, paired with a late 9-0 run, was enough for the Ichabods to hold off Missouri Western, 83-77, at Civic Arena Saturday.
The Griffons (8-3, 3-3 MIAA) got down 62-47 with 12:31 to play. Western reeled off a spectacular 17-0 run in six minutes to reclaim the lead at 64-62 with 6:25 left in the game.
Missouri Western, though, never led by more than two points in the second half. Washburn led 72-71 with 3:56 to go, and reeled off a 9-0 run to go up 81-71 with 1:13 remaining.
The Griffons made a couple late threes to get back to within four points, but never got closer than that.
Sam Ungashick, a Benedictine transfer, led Washburn with a game-high 26 points on 6-of-9 shooting from three.
JaRon Thames led Missouri Western with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Reese Glover came off the bench for 14 points. Zion Swader chipped in 14. Taye Fields had eight points, 15 rebounds and a staggering six blocks.
Missouri Western shot 56.6% from the field, but were outrebounded on the offensive glass 16-3. The Griffons had 15 assists, but turned it over 14 times. Washburn had only four giveaways in the entire game.
The Ichabods shot 44.9% from the field, including 10-of-24 from three. Saturday marked the first true road win of the season for Washburn, while Missouri Western suffered its first home loss of the 2023-24 season.
Both Missouri Western teams are now off for two weeks. The Griffons stay home for a couple of non-conference games on December 30.
The Griffon women host Kansas Christian College. The men will host Avila. Those games start at 1:30 and 3:30 respectively. The games will be at the MWSU Fieldhouse and both will be carried on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3).
Will Martin interview
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