By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
BIRMINGHAM, AL - It's been 27 years since the Missouri Western women's basketball team has been here.
Elite Eight. Big stage. National championship game in site. This 2021-22 team is in pretty 'elite' company.
This is just the third time in Missouri Western's history that the women's basketball team has played in the Elite Eight - the last two trips being in 1994 and again in '95.
The '94 team lost to eventual national champion North Dakota State, 91-74, in the national quarterfinals. A year later, the Griffons beat Florida Southern 79-77 to reach the Final Four for the first time ever.
After losing to NDSU again in the semifinals, 74-67, Western beat Stonehill out of Massachusetts 76-66 to claim third place in the national tournament.
Since then, Missouri Western made the NCAA tournament nine more times between 1997-2016. Never in that span did they get back to the Elite Eight. In fact, the Griffons got beat in the first round of the NCAA tournament six times from 1998-2016.
Suddenly, this 2021-22 team finds themselves in a unique position. In the Elite Eight after just six total wins the season prior.
Ryan Menley, who's covered the Griffons for 20 years through the lens of his video camera for KQTV and then Griffon athletics, says something special is going on this year.
"I do think it's the greatest comeback story in Missouri Western history," Menley said. "Just from where that program was one year ago. You'd thought they'd get better. You thought they'd take some steps and strides in the right direction, but I don't think anybody saw this."
Missouri Western returned nine players from last year's 6-16 squad. They also added four true freshmen and three transfers in the offseason. One of those three was Northwest transfer, grad student and St. Joseph Central alum Jaelyn Haggard, who leads the team with 59 made three-pointers this season.
A key piece in Western's runs in 1994-95 was Central alum and guard Dana Obersteadt, who came off the bench and provided a spark.
Then voice of the Griffons Bob Orf, who covered Western on KFEQ from 1989-2015, sees the similarities from then to now.
"A hometown product shows up and plays a big role," Orf said of the Obersteadt/Haggard similarity. "Haggard is a great player, there's no question about that. You only wish she played for Western for those four years she had been up north. But, yeah she's had a great fifth year and they've been amazing."
Jeff Mittie, who head coached the Missouri Western women from 1992-95, and is currently leading the Kansas State women's team on their own NCAA tournament run, described those '94 and '95 teams as 'unselfish.'
Missouri Western, this season, has scored 20 or more bench points in 23 total games. Unselfish would be a great way to describe this team as well.
"There are similarities to 1994, '95 and this year," Orf said. "It is a little bit eerie when you look at it."
There's certainly a few parallels. Mittie took the '93 team from 16 wins to 29 in '94. Current head coach Candi Whitaker went from six wins last year to 24 and counting this season.
On this current roster of 16 players, 13 of them are underclassmen. Whitaker has achieved two, 20-plus win seasons in her three years at the helm.
With the Division II women's basketball Elite Eight set to be in St. Joseph in 2023 and '24, one has to wonder if this program can build on this season's success and get back to the biggest stage in their home city.
"Who knows?" Orf remarked. "Maybe Coach Whitaker will get some great recruits and add to this team and maybe we'll be back again."
"There's always been this underlying attention with Missouri Western women's basketball," Menley added. "I think what this group has done has brought that back to the forefront."
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