Feb 12, 2021

Missouri Western women victorious, Griffon men's rally comes up short Thursday

Posted Feb 12, 2021 4:46 AM
The Missouri Western women's basketball teams rings the victory bell following their win over Missouri Southern at the MWSU Fieldhouse on Thursday night. Photo courtesy of GoGriffons.com.
The Missouri Western women's basketball teams rings the victory bell following their win over Missouri Southern at the MWSU Fieldhouse on Thursday night. Photo courtesy of GoGriffons.com.

St. Joseph Post

The Missouri Western women's basketball team stopped its three-game skid Thursday night in a 78-54 win over Missouri Southern at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

It marked the first win at home for the Griffons since Dec. 3.

The Griffons improve to 4-11 this season, while Southern drops to 7-11.

Western struggled to start the game, making just 1-of-9 shots and falling behind 13-6. The Griffons dominated the second quarter, ending the first half on a 17-3 run and taking a 36-23 lead to the locker room.

Missouri Western continued to extend their lead as Missouri Southern never got closer than 13 points the rest of the way.

The Griffons led 60-42 after three and put the game away with a 13-1 run to start the fourth.

Brionna Budgetts and Logan Hughes led the Griffons with 14 points each, while Mary Fultz added 13 points and a career-high eight rebounds.

Camille Evans had nine points, four rebounds, three assists and tied a career-high with five steals.

Missouri Western shot their second-best percentage of the season at 49.1% (28-57). The Griffons outrebounded the Lions 42-31 and forced 19 turnovers, including 15 steals.

Men's game

The Griffons suffered their seventh straight loss Thursday as they fell to Missouri Southern, 103-94. The Griffons fall to 8-8 on the season.

Missouri Southern dominated the first ten minutes, scoring the first nine points and eventually leading 30-4 just past the midway point of the first half.

Southern shot 67.4% (23-34) in the first half and took a commanding 54-23 at halftime. Western shot just 10-of-26 in the first 20 minutes and made 1-of-9 three-pointers.

The Griffons fought back after halftime, using a 20-6 run to start the second half and they got the lead down to 17 with 16:14 left.

Southern found their rhythm again, however, and pushed the lead back to 72-45 just two minutes later.

Missouri Western scored 71 second half points to set a school record for points in a half. The previous best in a half was 70 by the 2001-02 team against Lincoln on November 24, 2001.

Tyrell Carroll had 26 of his career-high 32 points in the second half and Reese Glover scored all 21 of his points after halftime.

Q Mays added 16 points - 14 of those were in the second half. Missouri Southern outrebounded MWSU 42-32 and they outscored the Griffs in the paint, 58-30.

The seven-game losing streak is the longest for Missouri Western since a seven-game skid during the 2017-18 season.

The Griffons stay at home against Pittsburg State Saturday. The women tip at 1:30 p.m. and the men will follow at 3:30 at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

Both games will be on KFEQ Radio (680 AM, 95.3 FM).