By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Missouri Western women's basketball has followed a familiar formula in the latter half of its current 11-game winning streak.
Wanting to get its offense back to full speed, while also playing stellar defense from start to finish.
The No. 24 Griffons (21-4, 16-3 MIAA) hasn't quite had the offensive firepower as of late, but the defense turned in yet another stellar performance in a 57-43 win over Rogers State on Saturday at the MWSU Fieldhouse in St. Joseph.
Missouri Western hasn't scored more than 73 points in the last six games. They haven't scored more than 61 in the last three.
Yet, their last four opponents have been held to 59 points or fewer.
The last team to shoot better than 40% against the Griffons was Central Missouri - six games ago.
Rogers State (9-15, 4-14 MIAA) was held to 32.8% shooting Saturday, including 0-of-10 from three. Missouri Western scored 19 points off of 18 Hillcat turnovers.
The Griffons led by nine at halftime, but that lead was cut down to three, 29-26, with 8:40 left in the third. Missouri Western ended the quarter on a 12-2 run, entering the fourth, ahead 41-28.
That lead ballooned to 56-37 with 2:07 remaining. The Griffons honored six seniors on Senior Day Saturday. Two of them came up big in the win.
Connie Clarke logged her 26th career double-double as a Griffon with 15 points and 14 rebounds - both game-highs. She also had three steals.
Jordan Cunningham came off the bench, tying her season-high with 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting.
Missouri Western won the rebounding battle 43-34. The Griffons also scored 32 fastbreak points, while Rogers State had just two of those. Missouri Western also got 29 bench points.
With Fort Hays State and Missouri Southern both taking losses on Saturday, Missouri Western now has a two-game lead in the MIAA standings with just three regular season games left.
A win at Northwest Missouri State next Saturday would clinch at least a share of the regular season conference title - something the Griffons haven't captured since 2016.
Candi Whitaker interview
Jordan Cunningham interview
Griffon men lose 11-point lead, and lose in another heartbreaker
The way Thursday's and Saturday's games unfolded for Missouri Western men's basketball this week was eerily identical.
In both games played in St. Joseph, the final home games of the season, the Griffons (15-10, 9-10 MIAA) got off to a quick start and a nice lead, but both games were lost on, essentially, what ended up being buzzer beaters.
In Saturday's edition, with the game tied at 56-56 and 3.2 seconds left in regulation, Rogers State's Anthony Marshall Jr. inbounded in the half-court to teammate Rodney Battle.
Battle, fighting off Reese Glover, stepped back for a baseline bunny that floated high and through the cylinder.
That shot, with 0.6 seconds left, lifted the Hillcats to a 58-56 win over the Griffons on Saturday at MWSU Fieldhouse.
This two days after the Griffons lost to Northeastern State, 62-61, on a go-ahead layup with 1.6 seconds remaining.
Missouri Western (15-10, 9-10), losers in seven of their last eight overall, were without their top rebounder and second best scorer Taye Fields Saturday, who sustained both a wrist and a hip injury against Northeastern State Thursday.
Fields had started the first 24 games of the season.
Missouri Western coach Will Martin said in postgame on KFEQ Radio that Fields warmed up, but "just couldn't go" against Rogers. Martin did not specify when the all-MIAA guard/forward might return to the lineup.
Missouri Western was hot out of the gate, leading 27-16 with 6:38 left in the first half. Problem is, the Griffons didn't score again in the first half after that.
Rogers (14-10, 11-7 MIAA) ended the half on a 13-0 run to go up 29-27 at halftime.
The Griffons got down 41-36 with 9:52 to play, but weathered the storm in a game that featured seven lead changes and six ties.
Missouri Western went on a 10-2 run to take a 54-50 lead at the final media break with 4:40 to go.
But again, like the end of the first half, the Griffons went on a drought, being held scoreless for the last 3:17 of the game and hitting just one of their last 11 shot attempts.
Battle, who hit the game-winner, led Rogers State with a game-high 21 points. JaRon Thames went out in style on his Senior Day with his second straight double-double, logging 13 points and 12 boards.
Zion Swader had his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Reese Glover, in his first start of the season and 44th of his career, scored 11 points on three made three-pointers.
Justin Bubak came off the bench for a season-high 10 points to go with six boards. Missouri Western dominated on the glass 48-27, but lost the turnover battle 14-6.
Both Missouri Western teams are off this week before going to Maryville to play Northwest Missouri State on Saturday, February 24.
The women's game starts at 1:30, the men's at 3:30. Both games are on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3, 680kfeq.com, KFEQ app).
The Northwest women (20-5, 14-5 MIAA) have won five straight, beating Northeastern State Saturday, 72-54.
The Northwest men, ranked No. 11, are on the brink of clinching yet another MIAA regular season title - it'd be their 11th in a row.
The Bearcats pulled away from Northeastern State down the stretch in a 73-56 resul Saturday.
The Bearcat men have won 10 straight - ever since losing at Missouri Western on January 13, 76-70.
Will Martin interview
Full audio broadcast
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.