By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
KANSAS CITY - Missouri Western (21-8) exploded for 27 third quarter points on four made three-pointers, three of them from Jaelyn Haggard, and the Griffons rolled to a 69-55 win over Central Missouri Friday at the MIAA tournament quarterfinals at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.
The Griffons, who have now beaten UCM three times this season alone, slogged through a tough second quarter and outscored the Jennies 15-6 in that period to go up 30-18 at halftime.
Missouri Western played tenacious defense, holding UCM (19-11) to 35.1 percent shooting and forcing 20 turnovers, scoring 24 points off of those turnovers. The Griffons had 17 assists to just nine turnovers themselves.
"You know this time of year, obviously a win is huge," Missouri Western coach Candi Whitaker said. "To stay alive and give yourself an opportunity is what you're playing for. I'm really proud of how our team came out. I thought we really guarded, especially in the first three quarters, extremely well."
Leading 38-26 with 4:54 left in the third, Missouri Western made four consecutive threes - two by Haggard, another by Jordan Cunningham and one more from Haggard.
Suddenly, it was 50-26 with 2:52 to go in the third.
"I think shots on our team are contagious," said Haggard, who finished with 12 points. "So, once one falls, I think multiple go. So, I was just kind of feeding off that energy our defensive end was providing, and just letting it fly."
UCM, whose season is likely over after coming into the game ranked No. 9 in the Central Region rankings, hit back a little in the 4th, outscoring the Griffons 23-12 over the final eight minutes, but the game was out of hand by that point, as Western led 57-32 entering the fourth.
Connie Clarke led Missouri Western with 14 points. Mary Fultz had 11 off the bench. Camille Evans scored a season-high nine points, while Corbyn and Jordan Cunningham had eight.
In all, Missouri Western's bench outscored UCM's 30-1.
"We had a lot of contributors," assistant coach Emily Wacker said. "We got to show some of our depth, and that's the kind of thing that I think can help you make a run in the postseason in a tournament where you're playing back-to-back (games)."
Brooke Litrell led UCM with 29 points. Nija Collier logged her 18th double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Missouri Western, who's likely locked themselves into the NCAA tournament with the victory Friday, moves onto the MIAA tournament semifinals where they'll face No. 1 seed Missouri Southern (23-5) on Saturday at noon.
The Lions, who beat MWSU 71-57 on February 10 in Joplin, have won a remarkable 16 games in a row.
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