By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
EMPORIA, KS - The Missouri Western women’s basketball team (19-5, 13-5 MIAA) broke a two-game losing streak and bounced back with an 81-67 win at Emporia State Tuesday night, giving the Griffons their first win in Emporia since 2016.
Western shot 33 percent in the first half, but then 67 percent in the second half and were able to use a series of scoring runs to eventually pull away.
Head coach Candi Whitaker is proud of her team, but says they’ll have to be ready to face the Hornets at home again on Saturday.
"I thought we did a nice job," Whitaker said. "We have to clean some things up, as we play them at the end of the week. We need to clean up a few things defensively."
Connie Clarke led Missouri Western with a game-high 20 points. Corbyn Cunningham had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Abby Bala came off the bench for a career-high 13 points on three made triples. Jordan Cunnningham also had 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Missouri Western also outrebounded Emporia 50-27, including 19-7 on the offensive glass. Ehlaina Hartman led the Hornets (12-12, 7-11 MIAA) with 18 points on four made threes. Kali Martin and Victoria Price each scored 14 for Emporia in the loss.
Both Missouri Western teams are home to face Washburn on Thursday. The women tip at 5:30, the men at 7:30. Both games will be on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3).
With a stretch of five games in nine days, Whitaker says her team has to make sure they're taking care of themselves mentally and physically.
"We just have to be really smart with what we do in practice," she said. "A lot of mental stuff and hopefully carry it over to game day."
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