By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Missouri Western women's basketball team used a big second quarter performance to pull away from Northwest Missouri State and ultimately down the Bearcats 75-59 on Saturday at the MWSU Fieldhouse.
The Griffons (23-5, 17-3 MIAA) led 18-12 at the end of the first quarter and outscored Northwest 21-8 in the second to go up 39-20 at halftime.
"Our second quarter was fantastic defensively," Missouri Western coach Candi Whitaker said. "We kept them off the glass. They had zero offensive boards that period. They had zero free throws in the first half and that was a big difference."
The Bearcats (13-13, 8-12 MIAA) got to within 13 points in the third, but never closer, as Missouri Western still led 58-41 entering the fourth.
The Griffons led by as many as 21, 66-45, with 7:14 remaining. Junior Trinity Knapp led Missouri Western Saturday with 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
"I mean, Trinity was really good," Whitaker remarked. "I loved how aggressive she was. I loved her courage to take shots. The two she missed were easy bunnies. She made all of the hard shots!"
"I think it was a really fun game," Knapp added. "We like to push the pace, and I think that's kind of the opposite of Northwest's game. Us being able to do that from the get-go. From the start, we were pushing the pace. So, I think that's one of the big reasons why we were able to win."
Junior Connie Clarke logged her 12th double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Cleao Murray came off the bench for 10 points and a career-high seven boards.
Missouri Western shot 53.4 percent as a team, including 7-of-15 from three. The Griffons doled out 19 assists to just 11 turnovers.
Molly Hartnett led Northwest with 19 points. The Bearcats were held to 37.6 percent shooting Saturday, including 5-of-20 from three. Northwest also struggled from the free throw line, going just 4-of-14.
Missouri Western has now won five straight games, and 16 of their last 17. The Griffons continue to bolster their NCAA tournament resume with the first regional rankings set to come out Wednesday.
"We know where we want to get," Whitaker said. "That's NCAA tournament and we do not want leave that in someone else's hands. It's just important that we're showing up every day and preparing and knowing what's in front of us. It's the work our players have done. They've put themselves in this situation."
Missouri Western men battle throughout, lose close game to Northwest
Missouri Western led 31-26 at halftime, and held a lead for over 21 minutes, but No. 3 Northwest Missouri State outscored the Griffons 42-28 in the second half, and the Bearcats went on to beat Missouri Western 68-59 at the MWSU Fieldhouse Saturday.
Northwest (25-2, 18-2 MIAA) held Missouri Western to just 2-of-14 shooting from three, including 0-of-8 in the second half. The Bearcats also got to the free throw line a lot more late in the game, finishing 19-of-21 at the stripe.
The Griffons (11-14, 7-12 MIAA) still led 47-42 with 12:44 to play, but Northwest reeled off a 7-0 run to go up 49-47 with 9:44 remaining. The Bearcats never trailed after that. Saturday's game featured eight ties and seven lead changes in all.
"I feel like everyone left it all out on the floor," Missouri Western coach Will Martin said. "Emotionally, psychologically, physically. As a coach, you want to walk away with a win, but as a coach, you're proud of the effort your guys gave."
Junior Will Eames led four Griffons in double figures with 14 points. He also had seven rebounds. Sophomore Taye Fields tallied his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore Zion Swader finished with 12 points, while Julius Dixon had 11.
"Proud of our guys," Martin continued. "A lot of good individual performances, but that doesn't compare to the team effort you saw out there tonight."
Freshman Bennett Stirtz and junior Wes Dreamer each led Northwest with 16 points. Dreamer had a team-high nine boards. Diego Bernard scored 15 points - 13 of that in the second half.
While Northwest has now won 11 straight games, and is on the verge of clinching what would be their 10th straight regular season MIAA title, the Griffons sit in ninth place in the MIAA standings with three home games left.
Newman (8-18) on Wednesday, Nebraska-Kearney (5-21) Thursday and Pittsburg State (7-19) Saturday. They have to finish 10th or higher in the MIAA standings to qualify for the conference tournament.
"It has to be one day at a time, but we know what we're fighting for," Martin emphasized. "We know these three games are really big and it's going to start with practice on Monday. We just have to be locked into that 'one day at a time' motto and we'll put ourselves in a good position and maybe we'll see (Northwest) again."
Both Missouri Western teams are home Wednesday to face Newman. The women play at 5:30, the men at 7:30. Both will be on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3, 680kfeq.com) with coverage starting at 5 p.m.
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.